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[gasping]

@caroline.forbes | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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[reneger]

pissed off some high end business gal a while ago, i haven't confirmed it's her doing yet but i'm pretty sure it is
you're not going to be able to get to her

( since he's pretty sure that's where she's going with that. )

loki's
i'll give you the address if you promise to bring some chinese takeout

[gasping]

[ the sails on that ship deflate pretty fast. he's right, and she hates it. the future is garbage. ]

i'll do better than that.

[ she'll get him takeout, but she's also bringing her own homegrown pick-me-up. if he's that injured, she's not going to take no for an answer without a fight. ]

[reneger]

( he gives the address, the apartment number. it's--a fairly high up one within a building that's neither high end nor low end. )

let me know when you're close
i'll put on a shirt

[gasping]

[ nice or not, it's better than the safehouse. caroline doesn't need much encouragement to zoom out or to hit up the local take-out spot, and by the time her message pops through again, she's got plenty of options just waiting to be devoured. ]

it's like nobody here has ever heard of duck sauce
i hope you're okay with sweet and sour instead

[ her foot raps against the door in lieu of a hand, considering hers are full. ]

[reneger]

( the text goes off, and jason gets himself up off the couch. pulls a loose tank top over his head. the bandages still show through the arm holes--wrapped around his midsection and laid on thick, but he's moving around alright. he doesn't answer the message, but does answer after opening up the front door. )

I've gotten used to it. Shit in this future sucks.

[gasping]

[ she shouldn't be surprised. he told her what happened, didn't he? that someone shoved a knife into his sternum, that he was still healing, that he hurt — and yet, even knowing that, caroline sucks in a breath when she sees him. ]

You should have called me then.

[ she could have tracked the trail, she could have found them, she could have — broken their necks, fed off them, used them like they deserved. at the sight of those bandages, something steels in her; hunger and bloodlust swells for a moment, mean and vindictive, but she swallows it down. ]

Does it hurt?

[reneger]

( a low hum; because jason knows why he didn't call caroline. she is bloodthirsty, in more ways than one. breaks into killing a little too easy. if she was there, if she tracked the man down--well. there's no telling how terribly that might have gone. it's best to avoid scenarios where he has no control over shit. )

Called you now, didn't I? If it happens again, I'll have you to watch my back. ( with a (bandaged, he used that to block the knife) hand raising to press over his midsection, over where the thickest bit of bandages is. )

It hurts a little. 'm used to it, so it's no big deal.

[gasping]

[ if jason didn't want a lowkey ("lowkey") bloodthirsty girl daydreaming about revenge neck-snapping, maybe he shouldn't have let her imprint on him five seconds into her stay in the safehouse. he kind of had it coming. ]

It's not going to happen again.

[ the words are firm, certain. because while she's willing to swallow down the urge for retribution now, caroline can make no promises about a repeat performance. if someone is stupid enough to attack him in her vicinity, they deserve what they get.

but for now, she lets it go. has to, if she's going to do anything other than steam in irritation on his behalf. better to focus on unloading cartons and containers from a bag, everything from a seafood wonton soup to a vegetable lo mein to what she'd been promised was not bugs in fried rice (but probably was, she wasn't looking that carefully when they'd scooped it up) onto the table. ]

I could make it not hurt. [ her gaze flicks up to his for a moment. ] If you want.

[reneger]

( the bugs don't bother him, at least. he's eaten worse shit, he doesn't mind this generation's idea of protein. jason sits down at one of the barstools of the kitchen, opens everything with his left hand and pointedly avoids using the right. there's not a high chance of irritating the stitches down that low just by moving his arm, but he's sick of getting patched back up over and over again.

caroline keeps talking and jason. pauses to look up to her. raises a brow. getting rid of pain never sounds like a bad idea, does it? --but he knows several methods he'd never fucking take even if it was gift wrapped and handed to him, so. )

Oh? They give you a healing ability when you landed here?

( pain killers are great until they're not. booze is great until one goes too far, so unless it's healing without any weird side effects--he's not down. )

[gasping]

No. [ not when she got here. caroline lifts one of the cartons — one with a finicky closing mechanism that stupidly requires two hands to open — and pries it apart, settling the open container near him when it's done. ] It's just me.

[ she doesn't know which cabinet in the kitchen to open, but there's bound to be plates in one of them. time to start going left to right to find them. ]

My blood can heal you. You just have to promise not to die for a day or so.

[ or you'll wind up like her. ]

[reneger]

Thanks for the offer, but, ( waving his bandaged (right) hand just a little, dismissively. ) nah. I can't guarantee I'll keep that promise, and 'm fine. It'll heal up in a bit, and I'll be back at one hundred percent.

( he doesn't need that kind of help. this isn't an emergency, he's not dying. he'll be fine. caroline's offer is sweet, but--jason's already taken a dip in a pit of crazy slime once, he's not risking his chances of potentially becoming something else. )

[gasping]

[ her brow furrows a bit, but she doesn't push the point. he doesn't have to be in pain, and she can help him feel better; it doesn't make sense, to caroline, to say no. sure, it's weird, but so are blood transfusions. it seems silly to be in pain just out of pride, to her. ]

Okay. [ but it's his choice. she's not going to force him. ] Do you need me to get you anything else?

[reneger]

It's not you, it's me. And I know that sounds like a shitty breakup line, but. ( hold on, he's shoving some of this bullcrap into his mouth. does that look like bug parts? eh. tastes all the same to him. besides, the protein is good for him. ) I died, one. Got shoved into this fucking pool of shit that drives people absolutely mad. It--fucked with me a little.

( """a little""". )

No offense against your vamp blood, but I try to keep potentially body-altering shit from getting into my blood stream.

[gasping]

It does. [ she won't lie about that. it absolutely sounds like a shitty breakup line. ] But it's okay.

[ look, she'll even offer a smile as reassurance, in between her own first few bites of non-bug-protein chow mein! ]

I just feel bad that you're in pain when I could help, you know?

[reneger]

I fight assholes all the time, Caroline. This's nothing. Promise. If it was bad enough I needed something, I'd let you know.

( maybe. if it was life or death, he'd rather risk vampire blood than risk getting shoved into a grave again. not now. he has too much to live for. )

Not tonight, but tomorrow night--you free? I gotta show my face, make sure the masses know that I'm fine.

[gasping]

[ she offers an exaggerated shrug in response. ]

My social calendar is wide open. What did you have in mind?

[ she'll need to get a bite to eat (ha) between now and then, since he's injured and thus not in a good place to donate at the moment, but she can manage both. no problem. ]

[reneger]

Someone's out to kill me--and I'm guessing failing on the first attempt isn't going to dissuade them from trying again. 'm only human, I don't have my fancy toys I've got back home, and with this. ( a gesture to his chest, with the injured hand. ) My reflexes're gonna suffer.

( he won't be able to pull another move like that again until his hand heals up. )

Since you're faster and stronger, I'm hoping you'd be able to watch my back and stop shit that came at me. 's all.

[gasping]

[ well, she'd rather he keep himself out of harm's way, but considering how unlikely it seems that she's going to be able to convince him of that, caroline figures acting as vampire backup's not the worst thing he could ask her to do. at least she's not katherine bait again. ]

Okay. [ simple as that. ] Where are you planning on going?

[ and who the heck is he planning on running into? ]

[reneger]

Fight rings. ( the kind he's taken caroline to before. he's not going right now but--soon. it's not good to keep himself out of the crowd for long, people need to know he's still there. still around. still kicking ass and snarking every person he can get his hands on. ) Not to fight. Just to handle business.

( because. of course. where else is jason todd going to conduct business. )

But that's where they got me last time, so.

[gasping]

[ her expression shifts as he talks, lips pursing together in quiet hesitation at the mention of the location, but it softens as he clarifies. if he's not going to fight, the risk goes down.

sure, someone could be an asshole and try to finish the job, but he's bringing her along. unless they were literally superhuman, caroline's pretty sure her reflexes will be faster. ]

Do you remember what they looked like? So I can keep an eye out.

[ did you take a brain photo while you were getting stabbed? ]

[reneger]

I remember the guy's face, but-- ( a shrug, which breaks into a hiss when it causes his stitches to strain a bit. )

's not gonna be the same guy again. She's not that stupid, and if it was the same guy, I'd be able to handle it before it became an issue.

( he'd take them down faster than they could get their hands on him, that's for sure. jason had his guard down because he wasn't expecting anything. seeing the same asshole in his home field would be enough to warrant beating the shit out of him. )

So we'll just need to be extra careful.

[gasping]

[ jason's not going to be beating the anything out of anybody if so much as shrugging his shoulders is enough to pull a hiss of pain from his lips. he's lucky to be upright at all. ]

Who's "she"?

[ if caroline's going to play back up dancer, she figures she might as well know who's on the other end of the story. ]

[reneger]

This stays between us, I don't want other people getting involved.

( a few people know. hell, more than a few. but it's not a grudge against the displaced like he's seen it worded when others start chatting, it's a grudge against jason. and he doesn't want to deal with others getting involved in his fucking business. )

Aoi Maeda. Quick search'll find enough info on her.

[gasping]

I wasn't going to tell anybody.

[ and she still won't. at least not intentionally. it's not her secret to tell, and while caroline's not the best at keeping secrets, she does okay if no one's asking her outright. and this isn't the sort of thing she expects anyone to come to her with questions on, so. should be fine. ]

Or look her up. I just wanted to know.

[ a beat. ]

Do you think she'll come after me too?

[reneger]

No. I don't think so. Her grudge against me is personal. ( even if it is stupid. it's not his fault her kid was stupid enough to bet a dog in a gambling ring. maybe she should be focusing on him and not getting back at jason for being clever enough to win, gosh. )

You playing body guard's probably not enough to piss her off. Fucking with her kid on the other hand would be, so I don't recommend it.