🎭J0k€r Jun!0r🃏

You think I'm bad? You should meet the other guy! Resident sociopathic 'recluse', psychopathic? you tell me!

[joker-jun1or]

"Ladies and Gentlemen~ Are you ready to scream? Welcome to the show!"

"I can fit two people under my skin...oh I can fit two people under my skin!"

"He's still kicking?" Yes shock-ing-ly! Did you miss me that much? Don't make me blush. Just because I'm under someone else name and body doesn't mean I can't have my own show!

You thought I'd disappear, huh? Well your not the only one!

I hope my microphones running, you all are only getting this rundown onceee

So main question, the elephant in the room if you will-

How?

Oh I'm so glad you asked!

Technically I'm not me -- well, here, I am. But in reality I'm in the headspace of a snot nosed vigilante, Robin! Ironic I know~, the "smart" one of the bunch (what a joke!). They call me an 'alter' but you just call me whatever you want~

Robin doesn't call himself an alter but 'host' or not you all know who really runs the show in here~

Okay so -- yes I was made with torture and brainwashing sure, but hey I never claimed to be a flawless guy, I never even claimed to be a good one!

For a formal introduction because I'm so kind~ the names Joker Junior but that doesn't roll of the tounge does it? You can call me J.J.

There aren't any more of us in here asfar as I know but, hey, I did say I was a recluse! And who says I don't lie?

If we shine a stage light on my social life you best believe the family is ashamed of me, and Red Hood thinks he's some sort of failure, look over here! Although I guess I can't be their mistake if they don't even consider me apart of them though. But Bruce knows the truth deep down, that's why I always have to be locked away if I front.

It's absurd really, I have done anything in yeeeaaars, talk about biased!

You might be wondering how i post on here if he does do that, and that's my little secret~ it'll be fun watching everyone try to find out when they find this!

"She always knew how to get her way; Just act a little bit wild, and someone will surely come to play!"

//OOC/Mun details

Please no romantic interactions from anyone 21+, and no major NSFW since muse is still a minor.

NO BATCEST ‼️ I tend to make my muses affectionate but that does NOT mean romantic especially not with batfam!!!

Mun does not have DID/OSDD so please let me know if am being disrespectful at all with my roleplay! I've been around alot of people with DID and done research before choosing to roleplay as this is a common headcanon from people with DID.

J.J views the family as people who he wants to get to know but people who he knows will always see him as a lesser or broken Tim or like the Joker and people who will always try to bring Tim back into front while their interacting so he doesn't really trust any of them but you can 100% have caring and sweet interactions with him as the batfamily, he will just be wary.

This is a very fanon version of J.J as its a while after it all happened and he's had time to develop into his own person as an alter!! Please keep this in mind!! I don't really focus too much on sticking to canon.

He likes Damian alot more out of the family members because he feels like he can relate to him alot more than everyone else. And Jason because Jason is also an outcast and let's loose, and kills.

"All alone in a black and white scene. The one and only candle queen"

Please feel free to use my ask box freely! I loveeee hurt comfort and angst. Warning tho I can get pretty dark so please let me know if you want fo avoid that!

Also feel free to tag me in as much as you want, go ham, deep literary rp, light text rp, in the middle of silly arguments with other rp accounts.

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The slow voice and strange tones were setting off all sorts of alarms with the labels scratched off in his mind. He frowned and carefully rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Are you feeling sick?"

If not, well. He'd put his concern away to waste on something else. He must've had one too many painkillers.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. froze a little. Great, he noticed. Of course he did! What was he thinking, pretending to be Tim while being his broken half? Half even being an overstatement, really. He'd only ever watched people talk and have conversations, but he realised quickly that watching was much different than actually speaking. He stuttered even with all the muscle memory.

The hand on the shoulder made him squirm, which he was sure Tim probably wouldn't do. Tim liked touch. Did he liked touch? Was he supposed to? It felt warm and nice but it was new and why was Bruce touching him anyways?

Concerned. He was concerned. Why was he concerned, sick? Oh. He sounded funny. Right. The idea of it made him feel warm which was- confusing. But it wasn't concern ment for him anyways, ofcourse not. It was for Tim.

What did he say now...?-

"Alfred's worried about you, not me, I'm fine B" he settled for after going through all the names in his mind. He was inclined to say Batman. He didn't know Bruce outside of that other than listened in conversations by Tim. And even as acting as Tim saying Dad felt weird, especially with what he used to call the Joker- that man was all he knew a parent to be

Tim said B often anyways it was fine.

[bleedingheart-bat]

His lips drew into a thin line. The voice was still setting off alarm bells in his head, as well as the slightly visible discomfort at touch. He didn't know what they were for. Slow words, slightly off tones...

"Are you sure?"

He pressed. He was never quite sure when to press and when to stop.

Maybe Tim was fine. Maybe it was just paranoia and one too many painkillers.

Maybe he should still ask.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. stared at the hand a bit. He didn't mean to. He probably shouldn't. It was suspicious.

But why did he have to come out all broken? He got to be the bits of Tim he threw away so he could be loved and cared for. Batman- or- Tim calls him Bruce. He cares for Tim.

It wasn't fair. He was a bin for all the bad stuff nobody wanted. He was too crazy and he liked hurting people and causing chaos. He doesn't remember anything else why is that his fault!-

"Fuck OFF Batman!"

Oh.

He didn't-

No he did.

This is why this was a bad idea.

J.J froze up staring at the man after yelling. God could he atleast have used any of the things Tim actually calls him in this setting?

The deer in the headlights expression comes back and he decides to run before something bad happens

So just like that he stepped back into a hall of the manor and ran off, which would have been fine if he could remember how Tim made it around the manor

He did not.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The longer his son stared and was silent the more a strange feeling settled in his gut. Every instinct was telling him to take his hand away. He didn't.

Until Tim - J.J - shouted at him.

He immediately drew his hand away, concern and suspicion written all over his face.

The alarms ringing before let him remember the labels now. This wasn't Tim.

"Junior!" He gave chase the moment JJ started running, ducking through doorways and halls.

He caught up after three minutes.

[joker-jun1or]

Great. Why did he yell again? He felt angry. Batman kept pushing and he wasn't Tim! But he was the one pretending to be Tim- why did he pretend then?

He wanted to be normal for a bit.

Normal for a bit?!?

What was he thinking.

Batman's mad Batman's mad

He's being chased. He doesn't know his way around the manor. Why was it so big? He could only remember Arkham. Where was Tim's room? That had a lock right.

Batman's caught up already.

Great.

J.Js best last ditch effort upon turning around came in the form of trying to read Bruce's expression, failing, and sliding into the door right next to him he assumed correctly was a bathroom and locking the door, with Bruce right there.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Junior," B's voice sounded tired. He ignored the anxiety pulsing through his veins at the idea of J.J loose in the house, a child who was obviously not afraid to kill or destroy or hurt.

He wasn't afraid of J.J, per se, he was afraid of how many wounds he could reopen for the family.

The lock was picked in a few seconds.

The door creaked open, pausing a second so he could check for a threat before opening it all the way.

He wasn't sure what his face looked like right then. His feelings toward J.J were.... Complicated. He loved Tim, without a doubt, unendingly and ruinously. It tore him apart with guilt to know that he failed badly enough that J.J ever existed. His relationship with J.J was messy so far, most of what J.J had seen of him was the Batman side reacting to some destruction or death. He also saw the way that J.J stuttered and the pain.

Maybe there was a chance for something else...?

He tucked that painful hope away.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J seemed unsettled by him. He wasn't hiding but he was tucked into the corner of the bathroom staring at him sharp and unblinking taking shallow breaths.

He was scared ofcourse; but ofcourse he'd never look it or admit that.

J.J was smart before he split from Tim into an alter. He was unsure how her fare against Bruce, who he only viewed as Batman.

He scanned the room for a way out. Hed try to talk but the worst-case scenario: swing out the bathroom window to freedom.

He did want family, but his lack of empathy or care for others and affinity to violence didn't make him a great fit for this one, so he was stuck watching Tim's life in his head.

"I'll go back to Tim's room. I didn't know where it was. That's not my fault!" He said, finally slipping away from mimicking Tim and back to his loose, whiny breathy, child-like tone.

[bleedingheart-bat]

He stayed silent for a few contemplating seconds. The situation was definitely messy. J.J hadn't hurt anyone though (not yet) and wouldn't it be better to show him favor for that rather than getting angry at the impersonation?

A quick look confirmed that J.J wasn't armed. That made things easier then.

"How long have you been fronting?"

His tone was careful and not hostile. Maybe concerned.

[joker-jun1or]

J.Js first impulse was to yell again and tell Batman it was none of his buisness and to eat shit.

...but he wasn't doing anything

Yet!

"A few hours. I just came out from the wardrobe, though" J.J usually stuck to dark small areas. It was hard to tell if he liked it like Tim did or he was distressing himself on purpose but he sometimes stayed there when fronting.

[bleedingheart-bat]

Something like resignation settled on B's face. J.J was afraid then. Of course he was, who wouldn't be? The guilt clawed at his heart again. Not only had he failed to protect Tim, he was failing J.J and scaring him.

Time for a change of subjects.

If he looked hard enough, it was obvious Tim hadn't slept. It was just as likely that he hadn't eaten. Start there.

"Do you trust us enough to eat something right now?"

[joker-jun1or]

"I'm not stupid. No matter how much you hate me, you're not gonna phys- ph. Hm." He paused, choosing a new word he could pronounce and knew better "your not gonna hurt Tim's body...but also food is really gross I'm not letting you punish me" he said crossing his arms.

He'd only really had food in Arkham... and accidently fronted while Tim's drinking coffee, other than that Tim only ate around other people, so J.J. never could front during it, nor did he want to. Sweet stuff looked slightly nice. He understood there was sugar in there that set of dopamine in your brain; but other than that, he didn't understand food to taste good, just be nutritious.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"It's not meant to be a punishment." He kept his tone even. Something like genuine sadness was only visible through the slightest twitch of his eyes.

He understood what J.J meant, of course. The mistaken concept that he had around food was obvious. It might not be the time to see if J.J was willing to see if food could taste good.

He didn't know where else to start though.

"Will you try it if we give you something sweet?"

[joker-jun1or]

"Right, but it's food. Blegh, " he said, sounding more childish and crossing his arms. It was a bit like Tim when he was younger if he wasn't so unsettling. "I don't need you bribing me just to make me eat. I'll eat the gross stuff. I don't care, " he huffed.

A bit of a lie, he did. But they were just doing it to be nice because he wasn't being bad, and then when he was bad he'd only think of eating nice things when he's eating something gross so it'd just do him badly. In a more manic state which he was usually in when he wasn't in fight or flight he would have taken it but he was a bit more clear for now.

[bleedingheart-bat]

He had a moment contemplating his words and decided to ignore the complaining and huffing.

"Then you will eat something?"

Any given ground with J.J was a win in B's eyes.

[joker-jun1or]

He considered it for a bit. Coukd he use utensils? He hadn't in a while. Wasn't his job anyways. He didnt really know how to read or write well but it seemed easier than those things. But if Bruce realises how little he can do he will know how easy id be to get the better of him and get angry at him aswell. If he's going to think he's doubt it on purpose anyways he might aswell say no.

"I'm not hungry I don't need to. Tim can"

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The slow voice and strange tones were setting off all sorts of alarms with the labels scratched off in his mind. He frowned and carefully rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Are you feeling sick?"

If not, well. He'd put his concern away to waste on something else. He must've had one too many painkillers.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. froze a little. Great, he noticed. Of course he did! What was he thinking, pretending to be Tim while being his broken half? Half even being an overstatement, really. He'd only ever watched people talk and have conversations, but he realised quickly that watching was much different than actually speaking. He stuttered even with all the muscle memory.

The hand on the shoulder made him squirm, which he was sure Tim probably wouldn't do. Tim liked touch. Did he liked touch? Was he supposed to? It felt warm and nice but it was new and why was Bruce touching him anyways?

Concerned. He was concerned. Why was he concerned, sick? Oh. He sounded funny. Right. The idea of it made him feel warm which was- confusing. But it wasn't concern ment for him anyways, ofcourse not. It was for Tim.

What did he say now...?-

"Alfred's worried about you, not me, I'm fine B" he settled for after going through all the names in his mind. He was inclined to say Batman. He didn't know Bruce outside of that other than listened in conversations by Tim. And even as acting as Tim saying Dad felt weird, especially with what he used to call the Joker- that man was all he knew a parent to be

Tim said B often anyways it was fine.

[bleedingheart-bat]

His lips drew into a thin line. The voice was still setting off alarm bells in his head, as well as the slightly visible discomfort at touch. He didn't know what they were for. Slow words, slightly off tones...

"Are you sure?"

He pressed. He was never quite sure when to press and when to stop.

Maybe Tim was fine. Maybe it was just paranoia and one too many painkillers.

Maybe he should still ask.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. stared at the hand a bit. He didn't mean to. He probably shouldn't. It was suspicious.

But why did he have to come out all broken? He got to be the bits of Tim he threw away so he could be loved and cared for. Batman- or- Tim calls him Bruce. He cares for Tim.

It wasn't fair. He was a bin for all the bad stuff nobody wanted. He was too crazy and he liked hurting people and causing chaos. He doesn't remember anything else why is that his fault!-

"Fuck OFF Batman!"

Oh.

He didn't-

No he did.

This is why this was a bad idea.

J.J froze up staring at the man after yelling. God could he atleast have used any of the things Tim actually calls him in this setting?

The deer in the headlights expression comes back and he decides to run before something bad happens

So just like that he stepped back into a hall of the manor and ran off, which would have been fine if he could remember how Tim made it around the manor

He did not.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The longer his son stared and was silent the more a strange feeling settled in his gut. Every instinct was telling him to take his hand away. He didn't.

Until Tim - J.J - shouted at him.

He immediately drew his hand away, concern and suspicion written all over his face.

The alarms ringing before let him remember the labels now. This wasn't Tim.

"Junior!" He gave chase the moment JJ started running, ducking through doorways and halls.

He caught up after three minutes.

[joker-jun1or]

Great. Why did he yell again? He felt angry. Batman kept pushing and he wasn't Tim! But he was the one pretending to be Tim- why did he pretend then?

He wanted to be normal for a bit.

Normal for a bit?!?

What was he thinking.

Batman's mad Batman's mad

He's being chased. He doesn't know his way around the manor. Why was it so big? He could only remember Arkham. Where was Tim's room? That had a lock right.

Batman's caught up already.

Great.

J.Js best last ditch effort upon turning around came in the form of trying to read Bruce's expression, failing, and sliding into the door right next to him he assumed correctly was a bathroom and locking the door, with Bruce right there.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Junior," B's voice sounded tired. He ignored the anxiety pulsing through his veins at the idea of J.J loose in the house, a child who was obviously not afraid to kill or destroy or hurt.

He wasn't afraid of J.J, per se, he was afraid of how many wounds he could reopen for the family.

The lock was picked in a few seconds.

The door creaked open, pausing a second so he could check for a threat before opening it all the way.

He wasn't sure what his face looked like right then. His feelings toward J.J were.... Complicated. He loved Tim, without a doubt, unendingly and ruinously. It tore him apart with guilt to know that he failed badly enough that J.J ever existed. His relationship with J.J was messy so far, most of what J.J had seen of him was the Batman side reacting to some destruction or death. He also saw the way that J.J stuttered and the pain.

Maybe there was a chance for something else...?

He tucked that painful hope away.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J seemed unsettled by him. He wasn't hiding but he was tucked into the corner of the bathroom staring at him sharp and unblinking taking shallow breaths.

He was scared ofcourse; but ofcourse he'd never look it or admit that.

J.J was smart before he split from Tim into an alter. He was unsure how her fare against Bruce, who he only viewed as Batman.

He scanned the room for a way out. Hed try to talk but the worst-case scenario: swing out the bathroom window to freedom.

He did want family, but his lack of empathy or care for others and affinity to violence didn't make him a great fit for this one, so he was stuck watching Tim's life in his head.

"I'll go back to Tim's room. I didn't know where it was. That's not my fault!" He said, finally slipping away from mimicking Tim and back to his loose, whiny breathy, child-like tone.

[bleedingheart-bat]

He stayed silent for a few contemplating seconds. The situation was definitely messy. J.J hadn't hurt anyone though (not yet) and wouldn't it be better to show him favor for that rather than getting angry at the impersonation?

A quick look confirmed that J.J wasn't armed. That made things easier then.

"How long have you been fronting?"

His tone was careful and not hostile. Maybe concerned.

[joker-jun1or]

J.Js first impulse was to yell again and tell Batman it was none of his buisness and to eat shit.

...but he wasn't doing anything

Yet!

"A few hours. I just came out from the wardrobe, though" J.J usually stuck to dark small areas. It was hard to tell if he liked it like Tim did or he was distressing himself on purpose but he sometimes stayed there when fronting.

[bleedingheart-bat]

Something like resignation settled on B's face. J.J was afraid then. Of course he was, who wouldn't be? The guilt clawed at his heart again. Not only had he failed to protect Tim, he was failing J.J and scaring him.

Time for a change of subjects.

If he looked hard enough, it was obvious Tim hadn't slept. It was just as likely that he hadn't eaten. Start there.

"Do you trust us enough to eat something right now?"

[joker-jun1or]

"I'm not stupid. No matter how much you hate me, you're not gonna phys- ph. Hm." He paused, choosing a new word he could pronounce and knew better "your not gonna hurt Tim's body...but also food is really gross I'm not letting you punish me" he said crossing his arms.

He'd only really had food in Arkham... and accidently fronted while Tim's drinking coffee, other than that Tim only ate around other people, so J.J. never could front during it, nor did he want to. Sweet stuff looked slightly nice. He understood there was sugar in there that set of dopamine in your brain; but other than that, he didn't understand food to taste good, just be nutritious.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"It's not meant to be a punishment." He kept his tone even. Something like genuine sadness was only visible through the slightest twitch of his eyes.

He understood what J.J meant, of course. The mistaken concept that he had around food was obvious. It might not be the time to see if J.J was willing to see if food could taste good.

He didn't know where else to start though.

"Will you try it if we give you something sweet?"

[joker-jun1or]

"Right, but it's food. Blegh, " he said, sounding more childish and crossing his arms. It was a bit like Tim when he was younger if he wasn't so unsettling. "I don't need you bribing me just to make me eat. I'll eat the gross stuff. I don't care, " he huffed.

A bit of a lie, he did. But they were just doing it to be nice because he wasn't being bad, and then when he was bad he'd only think of eating nice things when he's eating something gross so it'd just do him badly. In a more manic state which he was usually in when he wasn't in fight or flight he would have taken it but he was a bit more clear for now.

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The slow voice and strange tones were setting off all sorts of alarms with the labels scratched off in his mind. He frowned and carefully rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Are you feeling sick?"

If not, well. He'd put his concern away to waste on something else. He must've had one too many painkillers.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. froze a little. Great, he noticed. Of course he did! What was he thinking, pretending to be Tim while being his broken half? Half even being an overstatement, really. He'd only ever watched people talk and have conversations, but he realised quickly that watching was much different than actually speaking. He stuttered even with all the muscle memory.

The hand on the shoulder made him squirm, which he was sure Tim probably wouldn't do. Tim liked touch. Did he liked touch? Was he supposed to? It felt warm and nice but it was new and why was Bruce touching him anyways?

Concerned. He was concerned. Why was he concerned, sick? Oh. He sounded funny. Right. The idea of it made him feel warm which was- confusing. But it wasn't concern ment for him anyways, ofcourse not. It was for Tim.

What did he say now...?-

"Alfred's worried about you, not me, I'm fine B" he settled for after going through all the names in his mind. He was inclined to say Batman. He didn't know Bruce outside of that other than listened in conversations by Tim. And even as acting as Tim saying Dad felt weird, especially with what he used to call the Joker- that man was all he knew a parent to be

Tim said B often anyways it was fine.

[bleedingheart-bat]

His lips drew into a thin line. The voice was still setting off alarm bells in his head, as well as the slightly visible discomfort at touch. He didn't know what they were for. Slow words, slightly off tones...

"Are you sure?"

He pressed. He was never quite sure when to press and when to stop.

Maybe Tim was fine. Maybe it was just paranoia and one too many painkillers.

Maybe he should still ask.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. stared at the hand a bit. He didn't mean to. He probably shouldn't. It was suspicious.

But why did he have to come out all broken? He got to be the bits of Tim he threw away so he could be loved and cared for. Batman- or- Tim calls him Bruce. He cares for Tim.

It wasn't fair. He was a bin for all the bad stuff nobody wanted. He was too crazy and he liked hurting people and causing chaos. He doesn't remember anything else why is that his fault!-

"Fuck OFF Batman!"

Oh.

He didn't-

No he did.

This is why this was a bad idea.

J.J froze up staring at the man after yelling. God could he atleast have used any of the things Tim actually calls him in this setting?

The deer in the headlights expression comes back and he decides to run before something bad happens

So just like that he stepped back into a hall of the manor and ran off, which would have been fine if he could remember how Tim made it around the manor

He did not.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The longer his son stared and was silent the more a strange feeling settled in his gut. Every instinct was telling him to take his hand away. He didn't.

Until Tim - J.J - shouted at him.

He immediately drew his hand away, concern and suspicion written all over his face.

The alarms ringing before let him remember the labels now. This wasn't Tim.

"Junior!" He gave chase the moment JJ started running, ducking through doorways and halls.

He caught up after three minutes.

[joker-jun1or]

Great. Why did he yell again? He felt angry. Batman kept pushing and he wasn't Tim! But he was the one pretending to be Tim- why did he pretend then?

He wanted to be normal for a bit.

Normal for a bit?!?

What was he thinking.

Batman's mad Batman's mad

He's being chased. He doesn't know his way around the manor. Why was it so big? He could only remember Arkham. Where was Tim's room? That had a lock right.

Batman's caught up already.

Great.

J.Js best last ditch effort upon turning around came in the form of trying to read Bruce's expression, failing, and sliding into the door right next to him he assumed correctly was a bathroom and locking the door, with Bruce right there.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Junior," B's voice sounded tired. He ignored the anxiety pulsing through his veins at the idea of J.J loose in the house, a child who was obviously not afraid to kill or destroy or hurt.

He wasn't afraid of J.J, per se, he was afraid of how many wounds he could reopen for the family.

The lock was picked in a few seconds.

The door creaked open, pausing a second so he could check for a threat before opening it all the way.

He wasn't sure what his face looked like right then. His feelings toward J.J were.... Complicated. He loved Tim, without a doubt, unendingly and ruinously. It tore him apart with guilt to know that he failed badly enough that J.J ever existed. His relationship with J.J was messy so far, most of what J.J had seen of him was the Batman side reacting to some destruction or death. He also saw the way that J.J stuttered and the pain.

Maybe there was a chance for something else...?

He tucked that painful hope away.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J seemed unsettled by him. He wasn't hiding but he was tucked into the corner of the bathroom staring at him sharp and unblinking taking shallow breaths.

He was scared ofcourse; but ofcourse he'd never look it or admit that.

J.J was smart before he split from Tim into an alter. He was unsure how her fare against Bruce, who he only viewed as Batman.

He scanned the room for a way out. Hed try to talk but the worst-case scenario: swing out the bathroom window to freedom.

He did want family, but his lack of empathy or care for others and affinity to violence didn't make him a great fit for this one, so he was stuck watching Tim's life in his head.

"I'll go back to Tim's room. I didn't know where it was. That's not my fault!" He said, finally slipping away from mimicking Tim and back to his loose, whiny breathy, child-like tone.

[bleedingheart-bat]

He stayed silent for a few contemplating seconds. The situation was definitely messy. J.J hadn't hurt anyone though (not yet) and wouldn't it be better to show him favor for that rather than getting angry at the impersonation?

A quick look confirmed that J.J wasn't armed. That made things easier then.

"How long have you been fronting?"

His tone was careful and not hostile. Maybe concerned.

[joker-jun1or]

J.Js first impulse was to yell again and tell Batman it was none of his buisness and to eat shit.

...but he wasn't doing anything

Yet!

"A few hours. I just came out from the wardrobe, though" J.J usually stuck to dark small areas. It was hard to tell if he liked it like Tim did or he was distressing himself on purpose but he sometimes stayed there when fronting.

[bleedingheart-bat]

Something like resignation settled on B's face. J.J was afraid then. Of course he was, who wouldn't be? The guilt clawed at his heart again. Not only had he failed to protect Tim, he was failing J.J and scaring him.

Time for a change of subjects.

If he looked hard enough, it was obvious Tim hadn't slept. It was just as likely that he hadn't eaten. Start there.

"Do you trust us enough to eat something right now?"

[joker-jun1or]

"I'm not stupid. No matter how much you hate me, you're not gonna phys- ph. Hm." He paused, choosing a new word he could pronounce and knew better "your not gonna hurt Tim's body...but also food is really gross I'm not letting you punish me" he said crossing his arms.

He'd only really had food in Arkham... and accidently fronted while Tim's drinking coffee, other than that Tim only ate around other people, so J.J. never could front during it, nor did he want to. Sweet stuff looked slightly nice. He understood there was sugar in there that set of dopamine in your brain; but other than that, he didn't understand food to taste good, just be nutritious.

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The slow voice and strange tones were setting off all sorts of alarms with the labels scratched off in his mind. He frowned and carefully rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Are you feeling sick?"

If not, well. He'd put his concern away to waste on something else. He must've had one too many painkillers.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. froze a little. Great, he noticed. Of course he did! What was he thinking, pretending to be Tim while being his broken half? Half even being an overstatement, really. He'd only ever watched people talk and have conversations, but he realised quickly that watching was much different than actually speaking. He stuttered even with all the muscle memory.

The hand on the shoulder made him squirm, which he was sure Tim probably wouldn't do. Tim liked touch. Did he liked touch? Was he supposed to? It felt warm and nice but it was new and why was Bruce touching him anyways?

Concerned. He was concerned. Why was he concerned, sick? Oh. He sounded funny. Right. The idea of it made him feel warm which was- confusing. But it wasn't concern ment for him anyways, ofcourse not. It was for Tim.

What did he say now...?-

"Alfred's worried about you, not me, I'm fine B" he settled for after going through all the names in his mind. He was inclined to say Batman. He didn't know Bruce outside of that other than listened in conversations by Tim. And even as acting as Tim saying Dad felt weird, especially with what he used to call the Joker- that man was all he knew a parent to be

Tim said B often anyways it was fine.

[bleedingheart-bat]

His lips drew into a thin line. The voice was still setting off alarm bells in his head, as well as the slightly visible discomfort at touch. He didn't know what they were for. Slow words, slightly off tones...

"Are you sure?"

He pressed. He was never quite sure when to press and when to stop.

Maybe Tim was fine. Maybe it was just paranoia and one too many painkillers.

Maybe he should still ask.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. stared at the hand a bit. He didn't mean to. He probably shouldn't. It was suspicious.

But why did he have to come out all broken? He got to be the bits of Tim he threw away so he could be loved and cared for. Batman- or- Tim calls him Bruce. He cares for Tim.

It wasn't fair. He was a bin for all the bad stuff nobody wanted. He was too crazy and he liked hurting people and causing chaos. He doesn't remember anything else why is that his fault!-

"Fuck OFF Batman!"

Oh.

He didn't-

No he did.

This is why this was a bad idea.

J.J froze up staring at the man after yelling. God could he atleast have used any of the things Tim actually calls him in this setting?

The deer in the headlights expression comes back and he decides to run before something bad happens

So just like that he stepped back into a hall of the manor and ran off, which would have been fine if he could remember how Tim made it around the manor

He did not.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The longer his son stared and was silent the more a strange feeling settled in his gut. Every instinct was telling him to take his hand away. He didn't.

Until Tim - J.J - shouted at him.

He immediately drew his hand away, concern and suspicion written all over his face.

The alarms ringing before let him remember the labels now. This wasn't Tim.

"Junior!" He gave chase the moment JJ started running, ducking through doorways and halls.

He caught up after three minutes.

[joker-jun1or]

Great. Why did he yell again? He felt angry. Batman kept pushing and he wasn't Tim! But he was the one pretending to be Tim- why did he pretend then?

He wanted to be normal for a bit.

Normal for a bit?!?

What was he thinking.

Batman's mad Batman's mad

He's being chased. He doesn't know his way around the manor. Why was it so big? He could only remember Arkham. Where was Tim's room? That had a lock right.

Batman's caught up already.

Great.

J.Js best last ditch effort upon turning around came in the form of trying to read Bruce's expression, failing, and sliding into the door right next to him he assumed correctly was a bathroom and locking the door, with Bruce right there.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Junior," B's voice sounded tired. He ignored the anxiety pulsing through his veins at the idea of J.J loose in the house, a child who was obviously not afraid to kill or destroy or hurt.

He wasn't afraid of J.J, per se, he was afraid of how many wounds he could reopen for the family.

The lock was picked in a few seconds.

The door creaked open, pausing a second so he could check for a threat before opening it all the way.

He wasn't sure what his face looked like right then. His feelings toward J.J were.... Complicated. He loved Tim, without a doubt, unendingly and ruinously. It tore him apart with guilt to know that he failed badly enough that J.J ever existed. His relationship with J.J was messy so far, most of what J.J had seen of him was the Batman side reacting to some destruction or death. He also saw the way that J.J stuttered and the pain.

Maybe there was a chance for something else...?

He tucked that painful hope away.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J seemed unsettled by him. He wasn't hiding but he was tucked into the corner of the bathroom staring at him sharp and unblinking taking shallow breaths.

He was scared ofcourse; but ofcourse he'd never look it or admit that.

J.J was smart before he split from Tim into an alter. He was unsure how her fare against Bruce, who he only viewed as Batman.

He scanned the room for a way out. Hed try to talk but the worst-case scenario: swing out the bathroom window to freedom.

He did want family, but his lack of empathy or care for others and affinity to violence didn't make him a great fit for this one, so he was stuck watching Tim's life in his head.

"I'll go back to Tim's room. I didn't know where it was. That's not my fault!" He said, finally slipping away from mimicking Tim and back to his loose, whiny breathy, child-like tone.

[bleedingheart-bat]

He stayed silent for a few contemplating seconds. The situation was definitely messy. J.J hadn't hurt anyone though (not yet) and wouldn't it be better to show him favor for that rather than getting angry at the impersonation?

A quick look confirmed that J.J wasn't armed. That made things easier then.

"How long have you been fronting?"

His tone was careful and not hostile. Maybe concerned.

[joker-jun1or]

J.Js first impulse was to yell again and tell Batman it was none of his buisness and to eat shit.

...but he wasn't doing anything

Yet!

"A few hours. I just came out from the wardrobe, though" J.J usually stuck to dark small areas. It was hard to tell if he liked it like Tim did or he was distressing himself on purpose but he sometimes stayed there when fronting.

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The slow voice and strange tones were setting off all sorts of alarms with the labels scratched off in his mind. He frowned and carefully rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Are you feeling sick?"

If not, well. He'd put his concern away to waste on something else. He must've had one too many painkillers.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. froze a little. Great, he noticed. Of course he did! What was he thinking, pretending to be Tim while being his broken half? Half even being an overstatement, really. He'd only ever watched people talk and have conversations, but he realised quickly that watching was much different than actually speaking. He stuttered even with all the muscle memory.

The hand on the shoulder made him squirm, which he was sure Tim probably wouldn't do. Tim liked touch. Did he liked touch? Was he supposed to? It felt warm and nice but it was new and why was Bruce touching him anyways?

Concerned. He was concerned. Why was he concerned, sick? Oh. He sounded funny. Right. The idea of it made him feel warm which was- confusing. But it wasn't concern ment for him anyways, ofcourse not. It was for Tim.

What did he say now...?-

"Alfred's worried about you, not me, I'm fine B" he settled for after going through all the names in his mind. He was inclined to say Batman. He didn't know Bruce outside of that other than listened in conversations by Tim. And even as acting as Tim saying Dad felt weird, especially with what he used to call the Joker- that man was all he knew a parent to be

Tim said B often anyways it was fine.

[bleedingheart-bat]

His lips drew into a thin line. The voice was still setting off alarm bells in his head, as well as the slightly visible discomfort at touch. He didn't know what they were for. Slow words, slightly off tones...

"Are you sure?"

He pressed. He was never quite sure when to press and when to stop.

Maybe Tim was fine. Maybe it was just paranoia and one too many painkillers.

Maybe he should still ask.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. stared at the hand a bit. He didn't mean to. He probably shouldn't. It was suspicious.

But why did he have to come out all broken? He got to be the bits of Tim he threw away so he could be loved and cared for. Batman- or- Tim calls him Bruce. He cares for Tim.

It wasn't fair. He was a bin for all the bad stuff nobody wanted. He was too crazy and he liked hurting people and causing chaos. He doesn't remember anything else why is that his fault!-

"Fuck OFF Batman!"

Oh.

He didn't-

No he did.

This is why this was a bad idea.

J.J froze up staring at the man after yelling. God could he atleast have used any of the things Tim actually calls him in this setting?

The deer in the headlights expression comes back and he decides to run before something bad happens

So just like that he stepped back into a hall of the manor and ran off, which would have been fine if he could remember how Tim made it around the manor

He did not.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The longer his son stared and was silent the more a strange feeling settled in his gut. Every instinct was telling him to take his hand away. He didn't.

Until Tim - J.J - shouted at him.

He immediately drew his hand away, concern and suspicion written all over his face.

The alarms ringing before let him remember the labels now. This wasn't Tim.

"Junior!" He gave chase the moment JJ started running, ducking through doorways and halls.

He caught up after three minutes.

[joker-jun1or]

Great. Why did he yell again? He felt angry. Batman kept pushing and he wasn't Tim! But he was the one pretending to be Tim- why did he pretend then?

He wanted to be normal for a bit.

Normal for a bit?!?

What was he thinking.

Batman's mad Batman's mad

He's being chased. He doesn't know his way around the manor. Why was it so big? He could only remember Arkham. Where was Tim's room? That had a lock right.

Batman's caught up already.

Great.

J.Js best last ditch effort upon turning around came in the form of trying to read Bruce's expression, failing, and sliding into the door right next to him he assumed correctly was a bathroom and locking the door, with Bruce right there.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Junior," B's voice sounded tired. He ignored the anxiety pulsing through his veins at the idea of J.J loose in the house, a child who was obviously not afraid to kill or destroy or hurt.

He wasn't afraid of J.J, per se, he was afraid of how many wounds he could reopen for the family.

The lock was picked in a few seconds.

The door creaked open, pausing a second so he could check for a threat before opening it all the way.

He wasn't sure what his face looked like right then. His feelings toward J.J were.... Complicated. He loved Tim, without a doubt, unendingly and ruinously. It tore him apart with guilt to know that he failed badly enough that J.J ever existed. His relationship with J.J was messy so far, most of what J.J had seen of him was the Batman side reacting to some destruction or death. He also saw the way that J.J stuttered and the pain.

Maybe there was a chance for something else...?

He tucked that painful hope away.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J seemed unsettled by him. He wasn't hiding but he was tucked into the corner of the bathroom staring at him sharp and unblinking taking shallow breaths.

He was scared ofcourse; but ofcourse he'd never look it or admit that.

J.J was smart before he split from Tim into an alter. He was unsure how her fare against Bruce, who he only viewed as Batman.

He scanned the room for a way out. Hed try to talk but the worst-case scenario: swing out the bathroom window to freedom.

He did want family, but his lack of empathy or care for others and affinity to violence didn't make him a great fit for this one, so he was stuck watching Tim's life in his head.

"I'll go back to Tim's room. I didn't know where it was. That's not my fault!" He said, finally slipping away from mimicking Tim and back to his loose, whiny breathy, child-like tone.

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The slow voice and strange tones were setting off all sorts of alarms with the labels scratched off in his mind. He frowned and carefully rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Are you feeling sick?"

If not, well. He'd put his concern away to waste on something else. He must've had one too many painkillers.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. froze a little. Great, he noticed. Of course he did! What was he thinking, pretending to be Tim while being his broken half? Half even being an overstatement, really. He'd only ever watched people talk and have conversations, but he realised quickly that watching was much different than actually speaking. He stuttered even with all the muscle memory.

The hand on the shoulder made him squirm, which he was sure Tim probably wouldn't do. Tim liked touch. Did he liked touch? Was he supposed to? It felt warm and nice but it was new and why was Bruce touching him anyways?

Concerned. He was concerned. Why was he concerned, sick? Oh. He sounded funny. Right. The idea of it made him feel warm which was- confusing. But it wasn't concern ment for him anyways, ofcourse not. It was for Tim.

What did he say now...?-

"Alfred's worried about you, not me, I'm fine B" he settled for after going through all the names in his mind. He was inclined to say Batman. He didn't know Bruce outside of that other than listened in conversations by Tim. And even as acting as Tim saying Dad felt weird, especially with what he used to call the Joker- that man was all he knew a parent to be

Tim said B often anyways it was fine.

[bleedingheart-bat]

His lips drew into a thin line. The voice was still setting off alarm bells in his head, as well as the slightly visible discomfort at touch. He didn't know what they were for. Slow words, slightly off tones...

"Are you sure?"

He pressed. He was never quite sure when to press and when to stop.

Maybe Tim was fine. Maybe it was just paranoia and one too many painkillers.

Maybe he should still ask.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. stared at the hand a bit. He didn't mean to. He probably shouldn't. It was suspicious.

But why did he have to come out all broken? He got to be the bits of Tim he threw away so he could be loved and cared for. Batman- or- Tim calls him Bruce. He cares for Tim.

It wasn't fair. He was a bin for all the bad stuff nobody wanted. He was too crazy and he liked hurting people and causing chaos. He doesn't remember anything else why is that his fault!-

"Fuck OFF Batman!"

Oh.

He didn't-

No he did.

This is why this was a bad idea.

J.J froze up staring at the man after yelling. God could he atleast have used any of the things Tim actually calls him in this setting?

The deer in the headlights expression comes back and he decides to run before something bad happens

So just like that he stepped back into a hall of the manor and ran off, which would have been fine if he could remember how Tim made it around the manor

He did not.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The longer his son stared and was silent the more a strange feeling settled in his gut. Every instinct was telling him to take his hand away. He didn't.

Until Tim - J.J - shouted at him.

He immediately drew his hand away, concern and suspicion written all over his face.

The alarms ringing before let him remember the labels now. This wasn't Tim.

"Junior!" He gave chase the moment JJ started running, ducking through doorways and halls.

He caught up after three minutes.

[joker-jun1or]

Great. Why did he yell again? He felt angry. Batman kept pushing and he wasn't Tim! But he was the one pretending to be Tim- why did he pretend then?

He wanted to be normal for a bit.

Normal for a bit?!?

What was he thinking.

Batman's mad Batman's mad

He's being chased. He doesn't know his way around the manor. Why was it so big? He could only remember Arkham. Where was Tim's room? That had a lock right.

Batman's caught up already.

Great.

J.Js best last ditch effort upon turning around came in the form of trying to read Bruce's expression, failing, and sliding into the door right next to him he assumed correctly was a bathroom and locking the door, with Bruce right there.

[joker-jun1or]

A cloaked woman sits on a gargoyle, watching over the dark and clear night and the streets of the city. Silver dust falls from the shadow of the pulled-up hood.

-⏾⋆.˚

(@manea-the-fey)

(//I assume J.J. managed to sneak a fronting during patrol. Also not anonym this time because less chance it gets eaten by tumblr)

J.J was on a high of life working of the thrill of getting into front while out on patrol, swinging from buildings and tentatively choosing not to cause chaos so he could enjoy this for a bit longer without Tim forcing him away.

He paused when he spotted the figure, and it's perch curiosity striking him. Tim would probably analyse the situation, sure, but he instead watched her with an obvious curiosity.

[manea-the-fey]

"You can come closer. I do not bite." Her voice is clear, warm and inviting. She pulls the hood back to reveal the silver dust was coming from her smiling silver-white eyes, flowing like tears. She was petting the space at her side, inviting him in.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J did make sure to check how much attention Tim was paying, sure this was probably a horrible idea but if J.J got them into trouble Tim would have to deal with it anyways not him, so he curiously scanned her face and made his way over. Tim had something to loose, but he did not.

[manea-the-fey]

"A lovely night, is it not?", the woman comments as soon as he is closer. "The stars are lovely."

[joker-jun1or]

He looked up blinking. He didnt see the appeal usually. But he thought about the sparks that came by when he was being electrocuted. How he found beauty and some sort of distraction staring at the energy dancing as light through all the pain. Maybe it was like that for people? "Mhm. Sparkly"

[manea-the-fey]

She laughs at his answer. Gentle and warm, clear and pitched in honest joy. She had noticed he was not clearly understanding but trying. "Would you join me? We can watch them together. Enjoy how sparkly they are. Maybe you can learn to hear their symphony."

[joker-jun1or]

"Oh. Okay!" He shrugged, curling up next to her and trying to concentrate on them. He did hear things that didn't talk, talk, and sing, but he didn't think she was crazy too, so maybe she meant it sym- what was the word. Symbolically? Yeah.

[manea-the-fey]

Manea starts pointing out the stars, drawing out the different constellations, and as she does, more and more reveal themselves until the sky is covered in them. Manea was using her connection to the night and the city to filter out the light pollution and uncover the stars, which were usually hidden.

"You may call me Manea", she invites after a while. "How may I call you?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J looked up in awe, he'd never been able to just sit and admire something so nice. It felt like he coukd touch them if he put his hand out. The cons- sta- constellations had him a bit lost but he got the just of them quickly.

He paused a bit when asked for his name. His name probably was not something anyone wanted to hear understanding what it stood for or not.

"...Uhh- Red. Red's fine." That's what Tim always said, right? Cause Red Hood is Hood, and then Robin is Robin. So Red?

[manea-the-fey]

"Red does not feel right. But if that is what you will allow me, I will use it", Manea hums. Something about it felt like a name taken from someone else. It was not her problem, she was not trying to take the name, she just wanted to know how to address the child.

"You do not hear them sing", she stated. There was no judgement, just a gentle, patient observation. Like it was something she was expecting from experience. "It is not a problem. I can sing you their melodies. Or I could make you able to hear them sing."

[joker-jun1or]

He blinked a little at the fact she noticed it was off but just assumed maybe it was because he said a vigilante name, not Tim. After all Tim had always been their name, J.J came way after he didnt exactly count.

"What do they sound like?' He asked tilting his head. He didn't seem confused or weirded out by any of her words or being. He was off his rocker anyways. He was just curious.

[joker-jun1or]

A cloaked woman sits on a gargoyle, watching over the dark and clear night and the streets of the city. Silver dust falls from the shadow of the pulled-up hood.

-⏾⋆.˚

(@manea-the-fey)

(//I assume J.J. managed to sneak a fronting during patrol. Also not anonym this time because less chance it gets eaten by tumblr)

J.J was on a high of life working of the thrill of getting into front while out on patrol, swinging from buildings and tentatively choosing not to cause chaos so he could enjoy this for a bit longer without Tim forcing him away.

He paused when he spotted the figure, and it's perch curiosity striking him. Tim would probably analyse the situation, sure, but he instead watched her with an obvious curiosity.

[manea-the-fey]

"You can come closer. I do not bite." Her voice is clear, warm and inviting. She pulls the hood back to reveal the silver dust was coming from her smiling silver-white eyes, flowing like tears. She was petting the space at her side, inviting him in.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J did make sure to check how much attention Tim was paying, sure this was probably a horrible idea but if J.J got them into trouble Tim would have to deal with it anyways not him, so he curiously scanned her face and made his way over. Tim had something to loose, but he did not.

[manea-the-fey]

"A lovely night, is it not?", the woman comments as soon as he is closer. "The stars are lovely."

[joker-jun1or]

He looked up blinking. He didnt see the appeal usually. But he thought about the sparks that came by when he was being electrocuted. How he found beauty and some sort of distraction staring at the energy dancing as light through all the pain. Maybe it was like that for people? "Mhm. Sparkly"

[manea-the-fey]

She laughs at his answer. Gentle and warm, clear and pitched in honest joy. She had noticed he was not clearly understanding but trying. "Would you join me? We can watch them together. Enjoy how sparkly they are. Maybe you can learn to hear their symphony."

[joker-jun1or]

"Oh. Okay!" He shrugged, curling up next to her and trying to concentrate on them. He did hear things that didn't talk, talk, and sing, but he didn't think she was crazy too, so maybe she meant it sym- what was the word. Symbolically? Yeah.

[manea-the-fey]

Manea starts pointing out the stars, drawing out the different constellations, and as she does, more and more reveal themselves until the sky is covered in them. Manea was using her connection to the night and the city to filter out the light pollution and uncover the stars, which were usually hidden.

"You may call me Manea", she invites after a while. "How may I call you?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J looked up in awe, he'd never been able to just sit and admire something so nice. It felt like he coukd touch them if he put his hand out. The cons- sta- constellations had him a bit lost but he got the just of them quickly.

He paused a bit when asked for his name. His name probably was not something anyone wanted to hear understanding what it stood for or not.

"...Uhh- Red. Red's fine." That's what Tim always said, right? Cause Red Hood is Hood, and then Robin is Robin. So Red?

[joker-jun1or]

A cloaked woman sits on a gargoyle, watching over the dark and clear night and the streets of the city. Silver dust falls from the shadow of the pulled-up hood.

-⏾⋆.˚

(@manea-the-fey)

(//I assume J.J. managed to sneak a fronting during patrol. Also not anonym this time because less chance it gets eaten by tumblr)

J.J was on a high of life working of the thrill of getting into front while out on patrol, swinging from buildings and tentatively choosing not to cause chaos so he could enjoy this for a bit longer without Tim forcing him away.

He paused when he spotted the figure, and it's perch curiosity striking him. Tim would probably analyse the situation, sure, but he instead watched her with an obvious curiosity.

[manea-the-fey]

"You can come closer. I do not bite." Her voice is clear, warm and inviting. She pulls the hood back to reveal the silver dust was coming from her smiling silver-white eyes, flowing like tears. She was petting the space at her side, inviting him in.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J did make sure to check how much attention Tim was paying, sure this was probably a horrible idea but if J.J got them into trouble Tim would have to deal with it anyways not him, so he curiously scanned her face and made his way over. Tim had something to loose, but he did not.

[manea-the-fey]

"A lovely night, is it not?", the woman comments as soon as he is closer. "The stars are lovely."

[joker-jun1or]

He looked up blinking. He didnt see the appeal usually. But he thought about the sparks that came by when he was being electrocuted. How he found beauty and some sort of distraction staring at the energy dancing as light through all the pain. Maybe it was like that for people? "Mhm. Sparkly"

[manea-the-fey]

She laughs at his answer. Gentle and warm, clear and pitched in honest joy. She had noticed he was not clearly understanding but trying. "Would you join me? We can watch them together. Enjoy how sparkly they are. Maybe you can learn to hear their symphony."

[joker-jun1or]

"Oh. Okay!" He shrugged, curling up next to her and trying to concentrate on them. He did hear things that didn't talk, talk, and sing, but he didn't think she was crazy too, so maybe she meant it sym- what was the word. Symbolically? Yeah.

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The slow voice and strange tones were setting off all sorts of alarms with the labels scratched off in his mind. He frowned and carefully rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Are you feeling sick?"

If not, well. He'd put his concern away to waste on something else. He must've had one too many painkillers.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. froze a little. Great, he noticed. Of course he did! What was he thinking, pretending to be Tim while being his broken half? Half even being an overstatement, really. He'd only ever watched people talk and have conversations, but he realised quickly that watching was much different than actually speaking. He stuttered even with all the muscle memory.

The hand on the shoulder made him squirm, which he was sure Tim probably wouldn't do. Tim liked touch. Did he liked touch? Was he supposed to? It felt warm and nice but it was new and why was Bruce touching him anyways?

Concerned. He was concerned. Why was he concerned, sick? Oh. He sounded funny. Right. The idea of it made him feel warm which was- confusing. But it wasn't concern ment for him anyways, ofcourse not. It was for Tim.

What did he say now...?-

"Alfred's worried about you, not me, I'm fine B" he settled for after going through all the names in his mind. He was inclined to say Batman. He didn't know Bruce outside of that other than listened in conversations by Tim. And even as acting as Tim saying Dad felt weird, especially with what he used to call the Joker- that man was all he knew a parent to be

Tim said B often anyways it was fine.

[bleedingheart-bat]

His lips drew into a thin line. The voice was still setting off alarm bells in his head, as well as the slightly visible discomfort at touch. He didn't know what they were for. Slow words, slightly off tones...

"Are you sure?"

He pressed. He was never quite sure when to press and when to stop.

Maybe Tim was fine. Maybe it was just paranoia and one too many painkillers.

Maybe he should still ask.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. stared at the hand a bit. He didn't mean to. He probably shouldn't. It was suspicious.

But why did he have to come out all broken? He got to be the bits of Tim he threw away so he could be loved and cared for. Batman- or- Tim calls him Bruce. He cares for Tim.

It wasn't fair. He was a bin for all the bad stuff nobody wanted. He was too crazy and he liked hurting people and causing chaos. He doesn't remember anything else why is that his fault!-

"Fuck OFF Batman!"

Oh.

He didn't-

No he did.

This is why this was a bad idea.

J.J froze up staring at the man after yelling. God could he atleast have used any of the things Tim actually calls him in this setting?

The deer in the headlights expression comes back and he decides to run before something bad happens

So just like that he stepped back into a hall of the manor and ran off, which would have been fine if he could remember how Tim made it around the manor

He did not.

[joker-jun1or]

A cloaked woman sits on a gargoyle, watching over the dark and clear night and the streets of the city. Silver dust falls from the shadow of the pulled-up hood.

-⏾⋆.˚

(@manea-the-fey)

(//I assume J.J. managed to sneak a fronting during patrol. Also not anonym this time because less chance it gets eaten by tumblr)

J.J was on a high of life working of the thrill of getting into front while out on patrol, swinging from buildings and tentatively choosing not to cause chaos so he could enjoy this for a bit longer without Tim forcing him away.

He paused when he spotted the figure, and it's perch curiosity striking him. Tim would probably analyse the situation, sure, but he instead watched her with an obvious curiosity.

[manea-the-fey]

"You can come closer. I do not bite." Her voice is clear, warm and inviting. She pulls the hood back to reveal the silver dust was coming from her smiling silver-white eyes, flowing like tears. She was petting the space at her side, inviting him in.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J did make sure to check how much attention Tim was paying, sure this was probably a horrible idea but if J.J got them into trouble Tim would have to deal with it anyways not him, so he curiously scanned her face and made his way over. Tim had something to loose, but he did not.

[manea-the-fey]

"A lovely night, is it not?", the woman comments as soon as he is closer. "The stars are lovely."

[joker-jun1or]

He looked up blinking. He didnt see the appeal usually. But he thought about the sparks that came by when he was being electrocuted. How he found beauty and some sort of distraction staring at the energy dancing as light through all the pain. Maybe it was like that for people? "Mhm. Sparkly"

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.

[bleedingheart-bat]

The slow voice and strange tones were setting off all sorts of alarms with the labels scratched off in his mind. He frowned and carefully rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Are you feeling sick?"

If not, well. He'd put his concern away to waste on something else. He must've had one too many painkillers.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J. froze a little. Great, he noticed. Of course he did! What was he thinking, pretending to be Tim while being his broken half? Half even being an overstatement, really. He'd only ever watched people talk and have conversations, but he realised quickly that watching was much different than actually speaking. He stuttered even with all the muscle memory.

The hand on the shoulder made him squirm, which he was sure Tim probably wouldn't do. Tim liked touch. Did he liked touch? Was he supposed to? It felt warm and nice but it was new and why was Bruce touching him anyways?

Concerned. He was concerned. Why was he concerned, sick? Oh. He sounded funny. Right. The idea of it made him feel warm which was- confusing. But it wasn't concern ment for him anyways, ofcourse not. It was for Tim.

What did he say now...?-

"Alfred's worried about you, not me, I'm fine B" he settled for after going through all the names in his mind. He was inclined to say Batman. He didn't know Bruce outside of that other than listened in conversations by Tim. And even as acting as Tim saying Dad felt weird, especially with what he used to call the Joker- that man was all he knew a parent to be

Tim said B often anyways it was fine.

[joker-jun1or]

A cloaked woman sits on a gargoyle, watching over the dark and clear night and the streets of the city. Silver dust falls from the shadow of the pulled-up hood.

-⏾⋆.˚

(@manea-the-fey)

(//I assume J.J. managed to sneak a fronting during patrol. Also not anonym this time because less chance it gets eaten by tumblr)

J.J was on a high of life working of the thrill of getting into front while out on patrol, swinging from buildings and tentatively choosing not to cause chaos so he could enjoy this for a bit longer without Tim forcing him away.

He paused when he spotted the figure, and it's perch curiosity striking him. Tim would probably analyse the situation, sure, but he instead watched her with an obvious curiosity.

[manea-the-fey]

"You can come closer. I do not bite." Her voice is clear, warm and inviting. She pulls the hood back to reveal the silver dust was coming from her smiling silver-white eyes, flowing like tears. She was petting the space at her side, inviting him in.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J did make sure to check how much attention Tim was paying, sure this was probably a horrible idea but if J.J got them into trouble Tim would have to deal with it anyways not him, so he curiously scanned her face and made his way over. Tim had something to loose, but he did not.

[joker-jun1or]

A cloaked woman sits on a gargoyle, watching over the dark and clear night and the streets of the city. Silver dust falls from the shadow of the pulled-up hood.

-⏾⋆.˚

(@manea-the-fey)

(//I assume J.J. managed to sneak a fronting during patrol. Also not anonym this time because less chance it gets eaten by tumblr)

J.J was on a high of life working of the thrill of getting into front while out on patrol, swinging from buildings and tentatively choosing not to cause chaos so he could enjoy this for a bit longer without Tim forcing him away.

He paused when he spotted the figure, and it's perch curiosity striking him. Tim would probably analyse the situation, sure, but he instead watched her with an obvious curiosity.

[joker-jun1or]

//I don't know why, but your JJ gives me precious baby and I want to throw my maternal fey his way to smother him in love and cuddles

//he is just a baby at heart trust 🙂‍↕️🙏🏽

//Hes younger than Tim and is still cunning ofcourse but it's usually overshadowed by all the mess and chaos in his thoughts, so it only really comes out when he's being manic and letting loose. Other than that he's much more emotional when he's attempting to be normal/in domestic situations

//He wants to be loved and cared for, but also he only really remembers the joker and being tortured, and those are the only memories that feel like his even if other stuff comes to him so he finds a comfort in being the one hurting people because it makes him the one in control of tje negative scenario he used to be in and because nobodies shown him any other way to get comfort so hes working with what he has 🥲, he lacks the empathy for the other person until they react the same way he does because well he doesn't know what it's like to care about someone he hasn't been close to anyone tho sometimes he can recognise how Tim feels when connecting with family or being loved which is why he craves it.

//ANYWAYS SORRY IM JUST INFODUMPING ABOUT HIM ATP He would love snuggles and care he would just be a little confused about it and why he likes it so much

[saiaisaiko]

//So would you let your JJ be mothered and adopted by a fae?

[joker-jun1or]

//Indeed!! , I'm curious to see how she'd react to his inclination for violence and his lack of empathy and understanding aswell

[saiaisaiko]

//Well, she is unseelie and mother of many. Probably with a lot of patience

[joker-jun1or]

//yayayayay they will get along great!!

[saiaisaiko]

//As long as JJ does not go after those under her protection... JJ would probably the one changeling who would delight on a hunt with her

[joker-jun1or]

//I think he might try at first, but as soon as he notices her reaction and how, oh, he cares about that somehow now he'd stop and panic

[bleedingheart-bat]

J.J. made it down the steps of the manor carefully. Technically, Bruce didn't know who was fronting. And it wasn't as if Tim had anything to report, so if he just stayed reaaaalllyyyy quiet, Bruce wouldn't notice who was fronting. He hadn't fronted in a while anyway! The old bat probably forgot he even existed. And for once, he wasn't dealing with Batman stuff, so it wouldn't trigger him to be aggressive anyway. Foolproof plan. He can watch TV and sink into the sofa and free clown... hopefully.

He was stuck with Tim in his head all day. If anyone could pretend to be him, it should be J.J, right?

- @joker-jun1or (Tim!DID AU btw!! If ur comfortable with that:] with the hc Bruce does not take well to J.J and J.J is younger than tim mentally)

The remote in his hand clattered on to the coffee table, accompanied by a sigh. The news was not the most inspirational thing lately. He knew what he wanted to believe, in redemption and second chances and healing for everyone and that everyone no matter how far gone can still come back. He doubted this always. Strange thing. Is there a word for that?

He was about to get up and find something else to do so that being "grounded" to the house wouldn't drive him mad when he saw Tim or rather J.J approaching. He lit up in his own subdued way the same way with any of his children.

"Did you rest well?" He glanced at the clock.

[joker-jun1or]

J.J jumped slightly st the sound of the removing dropping, fidgeting with- what did Tim decide to dress them in toda-- a hoodie. Fidgeting with his hoodie. Now pondering on what possessed the host to have such boring fashion sense.

He froze when he was approached by Bruce blinking for a split second before reminding himself to focus up. What would Tim say right now? Tim didn't seem to have slept at all. Well, he didn't feel rested right now. But Bruce seems to expect Tim to have slept. But also Tim only naps really. What time is it then?

Retaining any of the detective skills Tim had would be helpful right now, but he was really just going off of muscle memory, him fronting didn't really pump the logical side of the brain like the emotional side.

"I guess" was the answer he came out with after realising he didn't want to take too long to respond. Not bad? Ambiguous enough, he hoped. He purposefully pitched down his voice from the tone he was inclined to speak in after being taught to copy the Joker's intonation, instead copying Tim's.

[bleedingheart-bat]

"That's good."

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes with aching hands. There was something new popping up that had given him a headache, barely bad enough to warrant his attention. Smuggling ring, basically just your average traders with a few more shifty folks and less official paperwork. If he remembered, he was going to ask Tim about it today.

"Can you help me with something, kiddo?"

[joker-jun1or]

J.J blinked for a second, staring at him and fidgeting more looking a deer in headlights for a passing moment before forcing his face to relax and slipping a response out "ofcourse, what's up?" He got the weird teenager talk down at least. But regardless this wasn't great.

He didn't really plan to speak much with how obvious his stutter made who's fronting, but when would Timothy ever turn down helping with a case?

It's not like he couldn't be smart, but it's also not like he understood why people did what they did. He wasn't stupid he knew the reasons, but the reasons made no sense to him even then

But it was being asked of Tim offhandedly, so what's the worst it could be?

[bleedingheart-bat]

A quick second passed where he wondered if he'd imagined the strange intonation. Paranoia, likely.

"There's a new Illegal trade ring. Barely bad enough for me to care, but there'll be a big deal today in Old Gotham."

His expression shifted to mild annoyance. "I can't go out tonight, but you'll need to find them and set up a stakeout to gather evidence. And help me file it later."

[joker-jun1or]

Trade. Deal. Stakeout.

Tonight.

Right. Could he convince Tim back to front again by then? It wasn't as if the other would want him to deal with any Robin stuff. Surely.

Hahaha- Bruce was annoyed. He looked annoyed. What was he annoyed at?

Logically J.J knew it was probably the situation but it wasn't hard to convince himself he'd somehow ruined Bruce's image of Tim with aa couple of mundane sentences like the man could feel his negatively energy.

Regardless, he nodded like he was paying some great attention and consideration. "Sounds simple enough." Would Tim ask any extra questions??- "How many groups are involved?" He should really shut up before he says something bad. This was a bad idea he shouldn't have come here and fronted he should've locked himself in his room again or told Bruce, who was fronting and let him look at him like an animal again-

[bleedingheart-bat]

"Not many. Just three. The only tricky part is tracking the head of the Gotham-based party down. He knows we're looking for him and set up a few false trails." B's expression went from slightly annoyed at Alfred's insistence that he stay home to focused. "There's not much real threat. Sorry for giving you a boring one, kiddo."

If it weren't for Alfred, he'd likely have the case finished. He shouldn't be so worried about their health, really.

[joker-jun1or]

He kept his expression the same outwardly since he knew Tim would have the opposite reaction, but internally, he let out a sigh of relief. It was double-edged, sure. On one hand, it seemed to be easy. On the other hand, that meant if he screwed something up, Bruce would 100% know it was him. Hopefully, Tim would deal with it himself regardless, though.

"'S okay. I'll look into it. " he felt weird speaking like time, though he was sure his voice was slower than the others since he didn't want to stutter by going at the same pace. He felt weird. He had been with Tim for forever now, and he still didn't understand him af all, now just acting like a hollow imitation with 0 intention.

It all felt weird.