IC: Corrections

[cursedhyacinth]

background info here

[[OOC: I'm using another one of my muses to progress the storyline... Grey Arrow is one of two muses that fits the criteria I need that Jacinda didn't veto right off the bat. But they've got one interaction in the Hub that didn't go quite so well. Got some fences to mend.]]

Things have been quiet for a long, long time. Always hard to say how long, in the Hub, given the flexible nature of reality, but...

After the Shift, when most of the activity in the Hub seemed to cease, there were still odd... flickers of action. Jacinda would catch glimpses of people zie recognized from the Hub -- usually the Question, some versions of Drake or zir own uncursed self -- but they never reacted to Jacinda. When zie tried to touch them, give a little push just to test if zie was being purposely ignored, Jacinda would instead find zir hand going through their forms -- as if they were ghosts.

A few of the Oracles who remained studied the phenomenon and decided that it was a vibrational frequency shift. The Hub was still the Hub, but some people remained aligned to the original "coordinates" and others had been moved to a slightly different place. Those who had made a home in the Hub were largely unconcerned with the change, as long as it didn't harm anyone. It was annoying, sometimes, but Jacinda had learned to recognize when someone in the Hub was "here" with zir or "there".

Jacinda had nothing waiting for zir in the home dimension. After getting kicked around by transphobes, dealing with almost everyone in the family acting weird around zir (Cass and Alfred being notable exceptions), Dick-from-home's entirely unwanted attraction... Jacinda was over it. The Hub wasn't much of a place, emptied of people as it was, but it was less stressful than going back.
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The Fallen Leaves Taphouse is the same as ever. Jones is still a decent guy, and Jacinda finds less and less reason to growl at him -- now, when he decides zie'd had enough to drink, Jacinda is inclined to agree. (There felt like less reason to get blackout drunk when there was no real pressure to go back "home".)

Jacinda usually claims the same booth when zie visits, and is sitting there now. There's a college-age Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne, maybe from the same universe, playing darts on the far side of the tavern. Maybe they don't even realize they're in the Hub.

Comments

[hawke-the-wolf.livejournal.com]

[Connor shakes his head.] You're not rambling. You've had a lot on your mind.

I can... relate. In a way. [He rubs his thumb against the side of his empty glass. It's been empty for a while, but he turned down the offer of a refill.] The wolf side... in my head. Sometimes I feel like... it's chipping away at what makes me... me.

[cursedhyacinth.livejournal.com]

You wanna... unburden your mind, then? [There's a sympathetic light in Jacinda's eyes.] I can listen. Dunno if I'll have any useful suggestions, but... I can still listen.

[hawke-the-wolf.livejournal.com]

I'm... not really used to talking about it. It's weird, and I don't like... [Connor trails off, his thumb stops idly moving against his glass, and he actually looks up at Jacinda.] People look at me like I'm dangerous, when they know that I was bitten by a werewolf.

They're not wrong, really, but I hate that they don't trust me anymore.

[cursedhyacinth.livejournal.com]

Aw, trust. Who needs it? [Jacinda flaps a hand, as if dismissing the very idea, but sobers up at the unhappy expression on Connor's face.]

Sorry. Been there. S'kind of a defense mechanism, acting like it don't matter.

[hawke-the-wolf.livejournal.com]

But it does. [Connor says, in a bleak tone,] How can I work with other vigilantes if they don't trust me?

[cursedhyacinth.livejournal.com]

There are things that can take you down, when you're all wolfed out, right? Like... I dunno... [Jacinda thinks back, to the last time zie looked through old case files on the Batcomputer — which zie does sometimes, when feeling particularly bored.] I think silver was the big weakness for Anthony Lupus.

You could absolutely team up with other heroes along with Speedy or Arsenal or Green Arrow. Just make sure they have some silver arrowheads in there with all the trick arrows for a quick 'werewolf takedown' measure...

[hawke-the-wolf.livejournal.com]

...His name was Anthony Lupus and he just happened to turn into a werewolf?

[Perhaps there are more important things to focus on, but Connor is a little stuck on that. He shakes his head.]

I don't know. It feels... off. Having to depend on other people to be considered "safe".

[cursedhyacinth.livejournal.com]

Batman keeps a kryptonite ring in reserve in case Superman goes rogue. And Zatanna could presumably take him or any other Kryptonian down with her magic. In fact, Zatanna might be the only one we could depend on to stop Wonder Woman if she turned on all of us.

When you have power, you can be dangerous. When you're dangerous, there's always going to be someone who thinks up ways to take you out, just in case. That's the name of the game, Grey Arrow. [Jacinda points at him and scowls in an exaggerated fashion.] And don't you be focusing on me calling it a 'game'. I know it's serious business.

And on the subject of names... you're a friend of the Flash, right? He's probably told you stories about tangling with the Rainbow Raider — alias Roy G. Bivolo. It happens all the time. The guy who rediscovered Greek fire and used it to become a supervillain — Lyle Byrnes. "Burns"!

[hawke-the-wolf.livejournal.com]

.... [Connor sighs.] You have a point.

I shouldn't expect to be treated any differently than the metahumans and other powerful superheroes. I guess... I guess I just feel... [He scowls, and ducks his head, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck.] Maybe I don't know how I feel about it.

[cursedhyacinth.livejournal.com]

Fuck feelings. Feelings never improve anything.

So you're dangerous. So people look at you like you're a bomb that might go off at any moment. Welcome to the fucking club. You gotta learn to live with it, or it's gonna drive you crazy.

And I've been crazy. That doesn't improve anything either.

[hawke-the-wolf.livejournal.com]

You've got all the answers, don't you? [Connor growls.] Always some kind of smart remark to tear somebody down.

[cursedhyacinth.livejournal.com]

[Jacinda bares zir teeth right back.] Fucking spare me the big bad wolf impression.

I'm not bringing your baggage into the conversation — that's you. All I'm saying is that I've been the dangerous one, the crazy one, the one that nobody trusts. And caring about how other people see you makes it worse.

[hawke-the-wolf.livejournal.com]

[Showing your teeth, not the smartest move. The wolf in Connor's head bristles at the challenge — and it takes a moment for Connor to remind himself that humans have disagreements that don't end in brawls, all the time.]

....

You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

[cursedhyacinth.livejournal.com]

[Jacinda taps the side of zir nose and leans back in the booth — 'you got it'.] Big scary wolfman didn't maul me for being a jerk. How dangerous are you again?

[hawke-the-wolf.livejournal.com]

[Connor asks dryly,] You sure you should be describing yourself as "crazy" in the past tense?