(no subject)

[thegoshdarn]

It starts with a stupid mistake in gym class. She's tired, and she's not paying as much attention as she should, and it ends in a softball to the face that gives her a nasty black eye. She's had worse, obviously. It's not a big deal, it's just very visible once the skin blossoms into a bruise. There's a paper trail for it for once, so she doesn't have to worry about hiding it from her dad, which should be a relief but somehow snowballs into fuck-up number two: dinner.

Jack's having one of his I should be a good dad moments, so he insists on eating dinner with her. Which is - it's fine. They order out, and he's drinking wine that apparently pairs very well with sushi or so he informs her, and for thirty minutes he's been chatting about recent archeology news and how well the business is doing and she thinks he's looked at her properly about three times the whole dinner and not once has he given any sign that he's noticed his daughter's left eye is practically swollen shut. And she doesn't know why, but something in her snaps, and the next thing she knows, she's picked up the bottle of wine that pairs so well with sushi and dropped it on the ground so that it smashes open and there's glass and wine splashing over her shoes.

After the yelling, she's locked in her room, her phone and all her electronics taken away. She's grounded, of course, and if she had an ounce of sense, she'd wait it out, but the same impulse that made her provoke her dad has her climbing out the bedroom window. There's no convenient tree branch she can climb down, so it's not a safe exit by any means, but she's Robin and even before she was Robin, she spent years sneaking around Gotham at night taking pictures of the Bats. It's practically nostalgic.

She really ought to be going to Wayne Manor, but somehow she finds herself getting out at a stop near Red Hood's territory and going for a walk. It's not the safest place to be having a near dissociative episode, but Jason is pretty good at making it clear minors are off-limits in his space so she supposes whatever part of her brain is currently in charge could have made a worse decision.

Comments

[robintohood]

Jason looks back at Tim, still concerned. He knows Tim has a way of downplaying or explaining away the treatment she's gotten from her parents but he sincerely hopes that doesn't extend to physical injuries.

"What happened then?"

[thegoshdarn]

"I just - I got this black eye in gym class, and he didn't notice it."

And now that she's saying it out loud, it feels - dumb. Like she just made a big deal out of nothing.

[robintohood]

Jason raises and eyebrow skeptically. He knew Jack Drake was ridiculously obliviously to Tim's needs but this was a new low.

"Seriously? How does he miss something like that?"

Jason believes Tim. He's just befuddled by Jack's response, or lack of one over his daughter having a black eye.

[thegoshdarn]

"I don't know. I don't - " She shrugs helplessly. That was what caused her to snap, really, and it was stupid but - he didn't notice.

[robintohood]

Jason remains worried. It seems like Tim's still processing tonight's events.

"What happened?" He asks patiently.

[thegoshdarn]

If it were possible for Tim to sink inside the clothes she's wearing then she's certainly at least trying. "I picked up the wine he was drinking and dropped it on the ground."

[robintohood]

"On purpose?" He asks in a nonjudgmental tone.

He's surprised that Tim would do that but he's trying to not make her feel worse than she already is.

[thegoshdarn]

And - this is definitely where he's going to judge her, right? Because now that Tim's looking back on it, it was definitely childish and stupid and not something that Robin should be doing. She'd just - wanted him to stop for a second and pay attention to her. "Yes."

[robintohood]

There's a short pause as Jason tries to piece it together.

"After he clearly didn't notice you got hurt earlier in the day?" He asks, still not judging her.

[thegoshdarn]

She sighs.

"Does it matter?"

[robintohood]

"Kind of," He replies. "You don't usually do that kind of thing but even you have your limits."

[thegoshdarn]

"That shouldn't matter," she points out. "I'm Robin. I can't snap because of something stupid like that."

[robintohood]

"You're also a teenager and your dad's been shit noticing your needs," Jason points out. He's not the in the mood to hide how he feels about the Drakes' parenting skills. "And no matter what Bruce says, Robins are only human and we can't be perfect little emotionless soldiers 24/7."

[thegoshdarn]

"It shouldn't matter. I don't have to be an emotionless soldier to not throw a fit at my dad."

God. This is fucked up. Tim folds her arms on the table and plops her head into them.

[robintohood]

On instinct, Jason gets up and rubs her back.

"Hey, it's okay. You've been through a lot. You've been forced to keep in a lot too."

[thegoshdarn]

She stiffens for a moment, not quite expecting the touch. “It shouldn’t matter,” she repeats. And then: “I don’t know what to do when he realizes I left.”

[robintohood]

"He'll probably demand you come back," Jason says grimly. "But right now you stay here. It's too late at night to go anywhere else."

[thegoshdarn]

She shrugs. "Well, he took my phone before locking me in my room, so it's not as if he can demand I come back, anyway."

[robintohood]

Jason's alarmed by that. How disassociated was she that she ran away without her phone?

"Why did you run away?" He asks sympathetically.

[thegoshdarn]

" - I don't know," she admits.

Honestly, it's hard to think of a reason she left, just like how it's hard to think of the specific reason she decided to break the wine bottle. She just did.

[robintohood]

Jason can take some guesses to what happened but he's hesitant about laying all of it out tonight. She's still processing.

"It's been a lot for you," he repeats, feeling inadequate with that response. "This had been coming for a long time I think."

[thegoshdarn]

Well.

It’s not that she hadn’t expected Jason to put together that this thing was a failing on her part, but it still hurts a bit that he was apparently expecting it. “What?”

[robintohood]

Jason slowly takes a deep breath and then exhales, preparing himself.

"Your dad has emotionally neglected you for years," he explains. "Yeah, you've always had a roof over your head and enough money to take care of yourself but physical needs aren't enough to be a good parent.

He's hardly paid attention to you and the times that he does, it's all self-serving and about what others might think of the family instead of actually thinking about what you need or want.

What kind of parent doesn't notice their kid coming home with a black eye? Not even Bruce is that oblivious."

[thegoshdarn]

Well, that is... absolutely not what she expected him to say. She's honestly frozen for a moment, not sure what to say. "That's not - that's an exaggeration."

[robintohood]

"Which part?" Jason asks, patiently. He's also steeling himself for Tim to argue at every point he's made.