took me a second to find this post and i don't usually put these on tumblr but i remembered i never elaborated on this and it did specifically end up becoming a heavily elaborated on thing in one of my little practice ficlet thingies so this is. this is jason talking about tim at the league while damian films him.
Across a busy banquet table, Jason is dressed ornately in red and gold, with embroidered golden patterns embedded into the garnet fabric of his outfit. He has rubies dangling from both his ears, and there's a wide grin on his slightly-flushed face. Around him, a table piled with food is clearly circled by multiple people, not all of which are recognisable from other videos. Guards stand to attention at the edges of the room and Jason himself is surrounded on both sides by elderly men also attempting to enjoy their meals, though they side-eye Jason with wary yet distinctly confused looks as the younger teen yaps at them.
"We used to-" Jason snorts, gesturing with his hand at the wrinkled man sitting to his left, who primly raises an eyebrow as he lifts a glass goblet of wine to his lips, watching stiffly as Jason proceeds to get more and more amused by his story before he can even tell it. "We used-" He wheezes, continuing loudly above the other dinner conversation going on around him. "I used to get so bored at those events, man. Like- like I was twelve. I didn't wanna be at some bullshit gala, talkin'a posh people all night. You know?"
Either not noticing or completely ignoring the clear lack of encouragement from the elder man's body language, Jason elbows him lightly for an agreement, grinning and leaning in. The man gives him a thin and visibly uncomfortable half-smile, offering a begrudging head nod which Jason takes and runs with.
"Right!? So I had to keep myself entertained, and there was this kid; this kid-" He wheezes again, leaning forward with the effort and slapping his hand on the table next to his plate. It clangs, silverware rattling, and the man to his right glances over in alarm. The camera shakes slightly, like the person holding it is also struggling to keep their amusement at bay. Jason wipes at his eyes, face reddening from the effort as he gasps, "This kid, he was one of our neighbours I think," He goes on despite the high-pitch of his voice, and his face has to be aching from how wide his smile is. "He was a decent kid; couple years younger than me, but he used to really get on my nerves."
It's barely audible, but the camera manages to zoom in and capture the gritted-teeth through which the man to Jason's left grumbles, "Wonder what that's like," Before moving back over to capture Jason nodding his head jerkily, still snickering.
"He was sweet, but he just never left me alone; and I guess he couldn't really understand social cues that well? Because I was in such a bad mood this night and he just would not fuckin' leave." Again, the man glares at him while stoically cutting into something on his plate. Jason's giggles start up again, reaching for his own glass and lifting it to his face as he speaks. "So- so he's yapping in my ear and I'm desperately trying to figure out a way to either leave or make this little shit leave," He frowns minutely when he realises the glass is empty, deep red staining the bottom from where it has previously been full. He cranes his neck and looks somewhere off-camera, beckoning with his other hand and jerking his head at the glass. "-And this kid is being so fucking annoying, so I-" He wheezes again. The camera zooms out ever so slightly as an assassin comes into frame holding a jug, which upon positioning himself at Jason's back he starts pouring more wine from into Jason's glass. "I thought it would be funny," Jason keeps telling the man next to him, "If-"
A slight commotion draws both Jason and the assassin's attention left, down to the end of the table, where the camera follows to reveal Ra's sitting in all his glory, also eating a meal while seemingly in discussion with multiple other people sitting close by. The camera focuses past the rest of the inhabitants of the table, Talia amongst them only two seats down from the camera-holder, to capture the way Ra's has clearly interrupted his talking and pulled away to glare furiously down the table in Jason's direction. His hand is up, positioned to snap his fingers, and he barks at the assassin, "No. No more for him, cut him off before he makes an even bigger fool of himself."
Just before the camera turns away, Talia turns her head and happens to clock the camera directly down the lense, face instantly transforming from calm to irritated. Then, the camera turns back to focus on Jason, the assassin seen quickly nodding and retreated from his side. Jason purses his lips in annoyance, and without any hesitation raises his hand to flip Ra's off proudly. He then turns to the man on his right and, after a moments deliberation, leans over to take his glass, which is still full. The man glares at him but doesn't say anything, getting pulled away as conversation continues, and Jason takes a sip of pilfered alcohol before turning back to his original conversation partner, drunken grin and giggles abruptly reappearing like they'd never left.
"Anyway, we're at this gala," He snorts, as the elderly man stares down at his place in frustrated resignation. "And I wanna make this neighbour kid go away, right? So I turn to him, and I'm-" He giggles. "-And I'm like," He puts on a mockingly disappointed face, "'Oh shit, oh no, fuck,' like I was really upset about something, right? And he's like, 'what's wrong Jason?' and I go-" A slight wheeze, "I tell him that I've dropped a cufflink somewhere and Bruce will be real mad if I don't find it, right?" He takes another glug of wine, leaning backwards and putting the back of his hand against his mouth to laugh, head tilting towards the elderly man and completely ignoring the fact that he receives no encouragement in turn. "So of course this neighbour kid offers to help me find it and starts lookin' around on the floor and stuff. And we're by this table, right? With a bunch of food and shit on it? So the kid gets on his hands and knees to check under the table and to look around better, and there were-"
Abruptly he lets out a loud cackle, unable to hold his amusement back, and he just barely avoids choking on his wine while trying to finish the story. Through wheezes, he somehow manages to get out in a rapidly elevating tone, "There were these three women talking nearby, not paying attention to us, and- and the kid was kneeling right next to them-," Eyes wet, he takes a break to wheeze helplessly into a hand, sinking down slightly in his chair. "So I-" He chokes. "I yell out really loudly, 'oh my god, ew, are you seriously trying to look up those women's dresses?' AND-" Jason loses it, barely managing to slam his glass of wine down onto the table before he's outright crying for breath, cackling loudly with no control. He sinks lower in his chair desperately before wobbling, and he has to grab onto the table in front to avoid falling onto the floor. The two men he's sitting in-between watch him with a detached sort of dismay, or perhaps disappointment, clearly not matching his energy.
After a few more moments to try and catch his breath, Jason throws himself back up in his chair, waving a hand around in front of his face and shaking his head as wet eyes turn back to the man to his left, continuing desperately. "I have never- I have never seen a child look more fucking betrayed in my entire life. These women turn to him with complete disgust, and he looks up at me like I'd just killed his pet in front of him. He- dude," The man's brow twitches in subtle irritation. "This kid got yelled at for like twenty minutes, and I was just watching him from the other end of the gala the whole time while he disassociated like a fucking trauma victim," Jason wheezes again. "-That kid- that kid never tried to talk to me at a gala ever again, it was fucking fantastic," He cackles. "Best moment of my life, honestly. He started avoiding me, and every now and then I would just see him staring at me from across the room of these events like I was a fucking weeping angel and he thought if he took his eyes off me then I would show up behind him or something."
"Maybe he was planning revenge." Damian's voice finally appears from behind the camera, calling loudly to be heard across the table. Jason turns to catch his eye, snorting and delving back into giggles as he shakes his head.
"Nah, he never did shit," He calls back. A young female also pipes up from somewhere to the right, the camera swinging to show a few seats down, where Mara Al Ghul is leaning forward from her chair to look past the other dinner attendees, mostly unrecognisable, eyebrows narrowed.
"Is this the neighbour that became Robin after your demise?" She yells over at them, loud to drown out the other conversations around them. The camera stays on her as Jason is heard responding, sounding confused.
"What fucking neighbour that became Robin?"
"My Father told me the new Robin was a boy from the building next to Batman's," Mara continues.
"There isn't a new Robin, what are you talking about?" The camera turns back to Jason, who turns his head to the left and jerks his head at somebody. "Ay, Tals," He whistles to get her attention, and the camera turns again to focus down towards Talia, who glances over from her conversation with an assassin standing at her back. "Mara's saying there's a new Robin, the fuck is she on about?"
Talia pauses slightly, and she carefully calls back, "Just eat your food, I'll talk to you about it later."
"No, what the fuck?! Did the Tim kid take Robin or not?" Jason exclaims. Talia's eyes narrow, and she purses her lips.
"I'm not doing this while you're inebriated." And then her gaze travels over in Damian's direction, and she becomes even more annoyed, glaring at the camera. "Damian!" She hisses, leaning towards him slightly. The man sitting in between them nervously stares at his plate, determinedly not paying them any attention, and Talia continues admonishing her son. "I already told you to turn that thing off! Do you want me to take it from you?"
"Mara bought a Gameboy," Damian whines, camera dipping downwards to the table, like it's being lowered so he can speak clearer.
"I told you to stop filming your brother drunk!" She snaps again, not letting up. Damian is heard groaning, loudly, and the frame starts to jerk as he fiddles with the device. Jason is also audibly yelling, filling the background with his tipsy-complaints leading up right until the footage cuts off.
"Are you shitting me- how do you tell Dusan before you fucking tell me?! AND HOW IS STEALING ROBIN A FAIR RESPONSE TO WHAT I DID? THAT'S SO FUCKED UP WHY THE FUCK DID-"
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