i failed geometry

“ I definitely can’t indulge you, then. ” Nadia replied, a tinge of amusement in her voice. There was an urge to crack a joke, to say something overtly funny. Nadia wasn’t good at being intentionally funny. “ Now you’re trying too hard. ” 

✦ |❝ Oh come on, i didn’t just bring down your day, did i ?? ❞ the witch playfully nudges the other, crossing his arms and tilting his head. with that awful grin.❝ don’t let lil ol’ me get you down, i’m just being a prick. you know me. ❞   

exhaustion weighs heavy on nico.  hours of looking, the ridiculous up-and-down of emotion that this day has been.  and it’s been fruitless, really.  they’re no closer to figuring out what’s really going on.  how or why their friend is suddenly back from the dead.  because this is gotham, and if you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, it’ll kick you in the fucking head without a doubt.  and when they get back to his apartment to check on nadia, she is nowhere to be found.  gone out for her ill advised walk.

“ goddamn it, ” nico says, and his voice is tight.  he lets his head fall forward until his forehead is on tony’s shoulder.  part of him wants to ask why them, but if karma is real, then the rogues have earned their heartache in spades.  “ i’m tired, tony, ” nico says quietly.  tired of every person he cares about being thrown back in his face by the fucking universe.  the universe is not impassive or uninterested.  the universe is a fucking bitch.  he feels bare, like this.  raw and tired.

there was that feeling in his gut, as if he had swallowed a thousand magnetic weights that were dragging him down towards the center of the earth so every limb in his body felt heavy. tony had seen the tombstone, had sat there and talked at the dirt like his friend was still buried there, had asked for a sign and it was all bullshit. everything was bullshit and here he was standing there looking like a dumbass with nico. 

   “ it’s creepy bullshit.  that’s how things are, ” colin says moodily, eating a fry now.  “ and it pisses me off because it explains so much about why i’ve got so many fucking issues. ”  tony didn’t know this was going to be a big ol’ pity party, did he ??  “ makes me think i should start preemptively seeing a shrink again before i start sleeping with a sock puppet. ”

“ Please don’t make me quote 10 Things I Hate About You. ” What a movie. What a night. She grinned, not bothering to disagree. “ Someone’s feeling cocky tonight. ” 

🍃     green eyes rolled at the condescension oozing off of the companion he was briefly stuck with. also, who the hell asks him of all people if they’re going to finish their fries? fries to him were sacred. “of course not. and yes, so go buy your own.”

    “that’s perfectly fine with me. i’m not going to repeat myself.” damian narrowed his eyes slightly, pulling back his place. “you’re not going to touch them. if you do, then i will take the fork and use it. i’m certain you have a good idea on what i shall do with it.”

“ I mean, if you insist on being rude, then sure. ” Their dynamic was rocky at best, but tonight was a good night, and Nadia hadn’t had a dark thought in almost two days. No one could blame her for giving Tony a hard time if it was out of a good place. “ Hate to break it to you, but that’s a pretty normal part of life. Also he’s cute, so it’s inevitable. ” 

“And that’s only the half of it. I probably only have about two fond memories in my life anyways. Does this mean I get to hear your origin story now?” 

She snorts, rolling her eyes right back. “ Oh please. You love us. ” Nadia will never admit it out loud, or at least not any time soon, but she does care about the kid. And not just because of Tony. Because Gotham eats good hearts and spits them out with the trash. “ Better you than someone else. ” 

colin makes a face, averting his eyes towards his fries.  “ maybe i don’t wanna be big all the time. ”  he doesn’t know how to explain the feeling.  body dysphoria, of some sort.  he can’t get over the paranoia that one day he’s going to…always look like a monster.

   “ sure, we can, ” hera agrees hesitantly.  “ you already know me, so i guess we can skip too much introduction.  what’s up ?? ”

   sounds like a challenge.  she gives a sharp, sharp, almost manic smile.  “ you don’t think we can take them ?? ”