❝If Ruler was here, I bet she say something like “Aren’t you a child in your own right?” so I’ll say it for her, you’re a kid too! You have soooo much about the world to learn! You could start now!❞
“I’ve been trained by the best assassins and teachers in the world, I don’t need that pathetic education that anyone else would offer to me. I’m already the best at what I do.”
Emerald eyes had awoken from their placid lethargy at the very juncture of sense when the wooden tip was pressed the back of his neck. His instinct was now throttling the actions that proceeded the threat, his weight shifted to his left leg and in a heartbeat his right leg swung backward in an offensive kick to the holders kneecaps.
His hands reach behind him and yanks out the toy bow from it’s quiver and draws the toy arrow that he had shaven the tip of to reveal more of a spear that was only as effective as the momentum that was driving it. The sharp point was aimed toward Jason without hesitation behind his swift and practised motion.
“Are you forgetting that I’ve saved you too?”
Non-recognition was a common theme that would forever haunt the expanse of his consciousness and would force him toward impulsion which would not often bode in his favor. With the thought that teamwork would be useful in this instance, he was emotionally countering with the cons that managed to outweigh the pros.
Regardless of Jason being his companion in the past, he had to survive. If temperamental behavior was going to lead to being threatened then he needed to distance himself from it, unfortunately.
"The complete jerk here, is the one that doesn’t know how to treat people that care about them with respect.”
Jason was wrong, and that surprised him, not sure if that was for the best or worst yet. Roy did intend to attack him, but to be fair, he was the one who attacked him first. His temper wasn’t the best, that was true, and the lack of understanding by his teammate made his react badly; he wasn’t going to shoot the arrow at him now, was he? He couldn’t, but then again, underestimating someone like Arsenal could be his downfall.
They stood there, Jason holding his knife ready to strike, but the pointy arrow was aimed at his eyes. He narrowed his eyes; carrying on threatening Roy wasn’t advisable, seeing that the archer wasn’t exactly cowering in fear either, he was ready to attack and defend himself if needed. But he was right; he did save him, according to Kori,he was the one who got the Teen Titans together, he acted like a leader. He never exactly thanked him, did he?
Yes, Roy was clearly pissed off by now, more than Jason was. Meditating caused him to be able to calm himself at some times, even though events would trigger a more volatile reaction, and having people turn their backs to him was something that he couldn’t forgive or just accept, especially after knowing what that meant and how people acted after that, only calling him when they needed his help.
He sighed and let the dagger drop on the ground, waiting for Roy to put his own bow away as well. They had to be fair, right? It wouldn’t surprise him if he refused to do it anyway, the archer was dealing with a proper assassin after all. He cared about him? Well of course you idiot, you only have two friends in this world. stop trying to be even more alone.
"Let’s just drop this then. If it’s about you saving me from the Joker, I’ll let you know that I appreciate you not letting me dying again. And that everyone in this team is equal.”, he said. It wasn’t exactly a ‘thank you’, but that’s all he would tell him for now.
“Well I’ve created my own prison for bad guys but no one here is interested - its a negative space. At least there’s no chance of them escaping, a link to a parallel dimension. Pretty much. There’s nothing stopping you from killing anyone you so chose. If I were the police force like I intended to be, then I wouldn’t condone it, but since I’m not - free game."
"Right, so you want me to fix this thing up..?"
"So you’re pretty much sending them to Hell. Nice. And they can’t escape from there? Because that’s exactly my beef with those damn prisons; they lock them inside and then they just waltz off, getting bailed out, whatever, carrying on doing what they did before. You wanted to be a police force? Screw it, just go solo, that’s what I do with my team. I don’t go around killing those who did nothing wrong, but criminal scum have it coming.”
“Yeah, there’s a reason that I don’t do sidekicks and it’s because of that. Well… I don’t agree with killing either, but sometimes it’s the only option. The last one, but the only one. But you know, half of the people in this city could die and I wouldn’t particularly care, to be frank. Pun intended.”
“That’s true. See people in this place have a habit of running into you, when you least expect it. I wouldn’t get too comfortable if I were you.”
“You seem to be more sane than Batman is. He doesn’t get that throwing maniacs in prison won’t solve a thing. But pulling the trigger and watch them going six feet under is both rewarding and safer for everyone else. So you don’t like this place, huh? I’m not a fan of it so far, but it sounds like a lot of these people wouldn’t be missed if something were to happen to them.”
“Right. I wouldn’t mind running into some certain people, but time will show. For now, knowing that my helmet is safe is a priority.”
The torment of being called a mole was a fresh wound no matter how many years had passed since the incident.
“Heard it on the wind, did you?” It would bare no surprise if Jason had found details of what had happened or heard of it from the other Titans. His hackles were raised and penetrating glare hidden under the shadow of the visor of his cap, Jason wasn’t pleading his case well, if he did indeed need to plead.
“I have all I need, Jason.” His arrow tips were not as he was used to, but spending time behind bars had allowed him to gain the ability to make anything a weapon. It was why he was named Arsenal, especially after his time with Deathstroke and working alongside the mercenary. “You should watch your mouth.” It had been too long since he and Jason had a conflict, but this was more a battle of words than a quarrel.
He began to walk away, just as many had done to him in the past. “I’m not a rat that scavenges for food. I’m in your debt but by no means does that mean I’ll tolerate the same ordeals that you were subjected to.” And that he too was, a method of dictation that they both had escaped from, and Roy’s experience told him to avoid situations where he was put in the same place again.
“Heard what? I swear Roy, if you keep being all cryptic about things that I don’t fucking know..”, Jason frowned. He didn’t actually receive any information, when he met up with the Teen Titans he only had one goal, and that was to attack Tim. He faced the other members, Roy wasn’t among them, so he was probably talking about an event which happened when he was either dead or training abroad with Talia’s men.
“Why? You’ll throw a punch at me or plant an arrow between my eyes? You’re not threatening me, Harper”, he said with an eye roll. He knew that the archer was perfectly knowledgeable of what he could do, not that he would attack him anyway. He didn’t have many friends, Kori and Roy were the only ones and he wouldn’t actually attack them, no matter how often they argued back home.
Roy turning his back to him hit a nerve; he absolutely hated that, ever since his big fight with Batman when he first came back in Gotham after his resurrection, when Bruce turned his back to him and walked away when Jason demanded for him to pick him over the Joker’s death, he had a personal vendetta against that gesture. “Don’t you dare turn your back to me!”, he snapped, making quick steps towards him, holding the dagger closely against his neck. “If it weren’t for me, you would be executed on spot, remember? Or could you use a bit of a reminder? Don’t be a complete jerk and turn against those who helped you.”
