text, @TARANTO, day 2 of the cave in

[heavyhitter]

[ it might take a while for this whole post to load on the bling comm, what with the awful reception going around, but it'll pop up eventually: ]

hey do you guys wanna hear the saddest story in the world? of course you do

so i was down here, you know, trapped and bored, and fucking around on my cell even though that's maybe not my best idea ever because there's sure as hell no solar recharge down here and what else am i gonna do for light, make a torch (hell no)
anyway point is i just noticed it's my fucking birthday today back home
so this is probably the shittiest birthday yet
i just wanted to make you guys all aware of how bad you should be feeling for me. as soon as i punch my way out of here i'll start accepting pity/condolence/regular birthday presents, so have them ready

Comments

text.

[gutpunching]

[Focus, Ramir. They've since gotten separated, and it's a long and quiet trek through the tunnels, so.]

And not so much as a day off in months. You could try taking it up with HR.

[Since she's given up on boycotting missions entirely. Everyone needs a pet project, probably. Slightly more importantly—]

What's the date telling you?

[None of them would match up, given they've been snatched out of time and space and a few dozen different worlds and all. But, y'know. For statistics' sake.]

[heavyhitter]

don't think i fucking won't they'll hear all about this

august 8th. usually doesn't matter so i ignore it, but my birthday's basically a national holiday so i had to notice

[gutpunching]

My felicitations.

[Text doesn't pick up how dry that is, but she can probably imagine it. How very modest. Too bad they're not in the right nation for it.]

Score one for the ol' Gregorian calendar, I guess. Running a little ahead of me, but we knew that already.

[Since she's from the space future and all. Some things never change, apparently. He's got a much more ballparked idea of the relative date, but he's pretty sure it would be spring in Gotham.]

[heavyhitter]

fyi the gregorian calendar sucks and i'm not a fan
comes with pretty good zodiacs though i guess
when's yours?

[gutpunching]

[He'd ask "my what" but he's not that obtuse. Instead—]

Why? Gonna read me my horoscope?

[heavyhitter]

yeah definitely, so hit me

[gutpunching]

[It's such a nothing detail, but there's a beat, and he takes the second to swap over to a private channel for no reason other than he doesn't like talking about himself on the record.]

August 25th. [Close, if they count by her calendar. Go figure.] How's my forecast? Any tall dark strangers I should be looking out for?

[heavyhitter]

[ god this private channel... really, jason... ]

seriously, private for a birthday? what exactly is your worst case scenario there?

[gutpunching]

[Hello Ramir welcome to paranoid reflexes 101. Why do you think he's barely on the network in the first place.]

Maybe I don't like surprise parties.

[heavyhitter]

no come on serious question

[ and a real curiosity: what kind of stuff does he deal with that someone knowing his birthday could be a bad thing? ]

[gutpunching]

[Serious question. There's a longer pause here, while he picks his way through the tunnels and decides how much he wants to give a serious answer. Almost long enough to seem like he doesn't plan on giving any answer at all. Eventually, the most immediately relevant angle—]

Turns out running into someone from your neck of the woods out here isn't as unlikely as you'd think.

[She'd already known more about him than she should have. (Skipped in from a little later down the timeline, which is a can of worms in its own right.) She's gone now. He'd checked. But a Gothamite is a Gothamite. And where there's one, there could be more. Vaguely ominous timeline spoilers aside—]

Far as anyone's concerned, I'm supposed to be six feet under.

[No fingerprints, no IDs, nothing to trace him back to Bruce. And he's got reasons to want to keep it that way until he makes his move. ALASTAIR's already got his name (and his number, if they're dumping him supplies from his own safehouse,) already posted it up on the directory, that can't be helped anymore. Luckily Jason Todd isn't a terribly distinctive moniker on it's own. Add a birthdate to that, and it starts to narrow down fast. Wouldn't be hard, if someone had the inclination to look once they had the means. Better to just not put the information out there where anyone can grab it.]

[heavyhitter]

ok that's not an answer at all

[ except it kind of is... it tells her the motive behind it, anyway, which she's sure is more than she'd have gotten a while ago. so, she'll take it. ]

but fine alright, question rescinded. who's here from your world?

[gutpunching]

[It's something, give him some credit. But in the grand continued tradition of nonanswers—]

No one.

[Not on this crew, anyway.]

I haven't seen her since Oska. Must have gotten shipped out.

[heavyhitter]

oh lame
or... good? i guess, for you

anyone i knew?

[gutpunching]

[Is it good? Left a lot of unanswered questions. But probably for the best. He'd liked her up until the Bat business came up. (Then it got messy, and it never really got a chance to sort out after that. Could have played it a lot better if he hadn't let himself get riled, but hindsight is 20/20 and all. He's being more careful, going forward.)]

Chatty. Blonde. About your age. Ring any bells?

[heavyhitter]

yeah a few, got anything else

[gutpunching]

[Come on, Ramir, use your powers of deduction. You're not even trying at all. Just to be difficult—]

Bit of a Jersey accent if you listened hard enough.

[heavyhitter]

ugh if she's not even here anymore why am i caring
did you know her?

[gutpunching]

Not directly.

[He'd helped put her c-list supervillain father away. She'd inherited his old cape at some point. (Though he'd never heard what happened to Tim Drake to clear up the vacancy.) Near misses.]

Apparently my reputation precedes me.

[Nice cautionary tale about what happens to Robins who go off book, maybe.]

[heavyhitter]

oh shit do i know a celebrity

[gutpunching]

[Sort of, actually, if you look at it right. Of course, that's more a matter of being Robin than being Jason Todd, and he doesn't do that anymore.]

Oh, yeah. Hit it real big posthumously.

[Isn't that always how it goes. (This is sarcasm, Ramir.)]

[heavyhitter]

i'm so impressed
hey next time i find you down here can i get a signature

[gutpunching]

Well, I guess it is your birthday.

[Just what you wanted, right.]

1/2

[heavyhitter]

oh shit that's right what else can i ask for

[ this is absolutely where the flirting would go... a month ago. sigh. ]

[heavyhitter]

wait i got it
how generous are you feeling