Exsilium IC Contact

[khajidont]

Jaime's cell phone is more or less plugged riiiight into his brain, so he tends to pick up like 99% of the time! If not, however...

"Hey, Jaime here! Leave a message, and I'll get back to you ASAP."

If you want to reach Blue Beetle, his voice is technologically altered, a slight robotic tinniness to his otherwise human voice.

"You've reached Blue Beetle. Leave a message after the beep."

Comments

[khajidont]

Yeah. I guess everyone does.

[He was almost one of them, caught in the Bleed, and the Justice League was on that case. He's still fidgeting without really thinking about it, getting crumbs all over the table before he ends up just setting the cookie down.]

Twenty-three people on my end. There was a hurricane - man-made hurricane, just some guy with powers looking for a quick buck. They would've been okay, but they weren't good enough for the tourist hotels to let them inside.

[His voice is flat as he recollects this, but there's something quietly angry underneath it. He's still angry when he thinks about it - angry, and sad, and guilty all at once, because while the Reach have proven themselves time and time again to be really bad guys, humans should know better when it comes to their own kind at the very least. And if there had been just one more hotel willing to let them in, even just one more guy with superpowers, they might have lived.

He can't say the same about what's going on here.]

This is a bit bigger than that.

[controlledvariable]

[Twenty three is a lot and not many at all, at the same time. It's too many to lose in one go, too many for someone who hasn't been doing this for very long, and her heart aches for him a little. She knows what guilt feels like.

The anger in his tone does surprise her, but she's almost... glad to hear it, to know that this is something he does get angry about. She'd be furious, too, she is angry, just knowing that happened, but now isn't the time for it.]

It is. [a hell of a lot bigger.] This is bigger than anything I've done, too, and I really don't know if it's gonna get any easier.

[She won't lie to him about that, and she takes a breath, running her fingers through her hair as she tries to decide what to say next.] What matters is that we're making a difference, whether it's one person or a thousand. And I know that's hard to keep in mind after we lost a battle, but we delivered a hell of a blow to the United Earth's forces, and that's a lot better than having done nothing.

[She isn't sure if that's what he wants, or needs, to hear, but she's trying.]

[khajidont]

It shouldn't get any easier.

[He would worry, if it did. He doesn't want to become the type of person to just become jaded by death. Even if they can be regenerated here, it's something to take seriously. He refuses to just let it become normal, even if that would be the easier way to go.]

[controlledvariable]

People can get used to all sorts of things. Sometimes it's how we cope.

[Not that it's gotten any easier for her, but she's not going to judge anyone who might become a little numb to the things they have to see.]

[khajidont]

[The corner of his lips twitch up in a fairly humourless smile.]

Just because it shouldn't doesn't mean it won't, for some people. It's not like this is something that should be happening in the first place.

[controlledvariable]

[dryly:] The war or the time travel or the kidnapping?

[Considering all of them shouldn't happen, in her opinion, though at least war is more... normal, in a terrible sort of way.]

[khajidont]

[Well when she puts it that way...] All of the above?

[controlledvariable]

[She rubs at her brow with a sigh; the frustration isn't directed at Jaime, she's just tired with the situation in general.]

You get used to the kidnapping, too. At least the Initiative don't have us cuffed to anything.

[So very, very wry. It wasn't even vigilante things that got her kidnapped most of the time, just her dad and his stupid friends.]

[khajidont]

[He almost thinks she's joking for a second, and it shows however briefly upon his face before it dawns on him that it sounds like she's talking from personal experience.

He may not have been in this whole superhero business long, but as far as he's concerned, kidnapping shouldn't play a role in it.]

You've been kidnapped before?

[controlledvariable]

[Oh, Jaime, you sweet summer child.]

More than I'd care to admit. Daddy dearest used to like having a hostage, and then it's just one of those things that comes with being a sidekick.

[Not that she'd admit to being a sidekick most days, but still.]

[khajidont]

[God, does he want to know?]

...Daddy dearest?

[controlledvariable]

Oh, right, sorry. [it's more casual than actually apologetic, like she forgot to mention something inconsequential] My dad's the Cluemaster, a shitty B grade supervillain. I forget that not everyone knows.

[Most of the vigilantes and criminals in Gotham knew that Spoiler was Arthur Brown's little girl; she got used to everyone she met knowing that sort of thing.]

[khajidont]

[For a second, a baffled seriously? almost slips out of his mouth, but he stops it at the very last second because - c'mon, Jaime, you twit, why would she lie about something like that?]

Oh man, [he says, mouth tugged into a frown of sympathy if not empathy - he can't empathize with any of that, neither the evidently abusive parent nor the kidnapping.] That's... gotta suck.

[controlledvariable]

[It does suck, but for all that Steph appreciates the sympathy, it always feels a little weird to have it, so she just she just shrugs.]

On the plus side, I've never lost a game of riddles.

[Humour is the best coping mechanism.]

[khajidont]

[Jaime doesn't really have an answering quip to throw back at her - half because he's honestly terrible at banter, and half because it's not funny in the first place. Still, he won't press wow your dad is kind of a terrible person at her, because that's a subject more personal, if not less bleak, than their previous one.]

That's one way of looking on the bright side, [he says lightly, not quite indulging in the humour, but not dissuading her from a change of topic either.]

[controlledvariable]

[For all that she's capable of being casual about it, Steph is smart enough to realize that she's making Jaime a little uncomfortable.]

I can find a positive in anything. [Which isn't entirely true, but there's a certain image that Batgirl needs to project.] Even this place has its upsides.

[khajidont]

[Jaime likes to think that he's typically on the optimistic side, but he's got to admit that he has his limits. This place is one of them.]

Yeah? Like what?

[controlledvariable]

[She has enough sense not to mention that getting laid regularly is a pretty big plus to the whole situation, because Jaime is only a baby.

Nevermind that she was pregnant at his age; he seems a lot more innocent than she ever was.]

Even I won't remember any of this when I go home, I'm glad for the people I've gotten to meet. [Ellie, mostly, but Collette, too. Dick, even if she knows him at home as well, it's not the same. Saul, sort of.] I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[khajidont]

[Jaime hasn't been around for long enough to make anything resembling a lasting bond with anyone yet, but the sentiment makes sense to him. He leans back in his chair, looking at her appraisingly, then nods.]

Yeah. I can get that.