#absolutebataf

@absolutebataf sent a raven: ❛ think of it as a compliment. ❜ [to (your choice): Dent, Joker, Crane, Kyle, Brown, Sionis]

“Oddly  enough,'  he  could  feel  the  creak  in  his  jaw,  gritting  his  teeth  behind  a  tight  lipped  smile.  ”It  doesn't  really  come  across  that  way.'

       When  he'd  decided  to  blow  up  that  run  down  section  of  Old  Gotham,  he  hadn't  expected  to  find  himself  blown  through  some  dimensional  shift.  He'd  been  expecting  to  land  in  the  Bay.  Now  he  was  staring  at  graffiti  on  a  building  that  was  not  his  own,  fighting  the  urge  to  shoot  the  man  who'd  complimented  his  spats  by  calling  him  a  brave  soul. 

       Joke  was  on  him  though,  he  wasn't  wearing  spats,  he  was  in  a  comfortable  loafer  that  just  looked  fancy.  His  skin  just  happened  to  be  remarkably  pale.  Reaching  out  for  the  brick,  he  hesitated  to  touch  it.  It  wasn't  his  Gotham,  finally  turning  to  face  the  speaker  and  pausing  as  he  had  to  look  up,  and  then  up  some  more. 

"What  the  hell  kind  of  chemicals  do  you  people  have  in  the  water?'

"Well, yes," Jillian agrees, even if it made her sound like some annoying smart aleck or wise guy type. That was just her, it seems; eager to chomp at the bit and have a solution to everything. She hated the unknown, hated people getting the jump on her or being smarter than her. No, she had to outsmart everyone; that's how she survived, after all.

"It's why I like to be the force," she continues confidently, the clicking of keys can be heard, the sound of a mouse's wheel being scrolled and buttons clicked a few, measured and precise times. It was muscle memory at this point. "It's satisfying, you know? I think of it like coding, or hacking, or whatever most people think of when they imagine computer stuff. Things are problems or bugs or viruses, and me? I get rid of it before anyone would ever know." She's smug, leaning back into her chair, hands now folded over her stomach as she sighs.

"Delete was a great descriptor, actually," Jillian remarks after a moment of pondering further on his words. She turns to glance up at him, giving her eyes a much-needed break from the screen in front of them. "I liked that a lot... delete. It feels more sinister than kill or destroy; you're just gone. Poof, no evidence." A dry laugh leaves her; the smile she previously had faltering.

“How long have you been dealing with this?”

------

A slight tightening of their jaw as they looked down for a moment, considering their options. They reached up to adjust their ponytail with a small grimace, which they covered with a smile. Mismatched eyes blinked up at him, bemused for a moment. "... a while."

Not an answer. A deflection. They didn't flinch from being startled by the man's voice, though it was a close thing. Nobody that big should be able to sneak up on people. They scuffed their boots on the asphalt as they checked over their notes quickly before they shoved their phone into their bag. Locations, drop times, recent movement patterns. Places to warn people to avoid if possible. It might not help much, but it's something.

Tan shifted their weight, looking up at him with a crane of their neck. A tilt of their head, listening for movement in the area before turning their focus back to him, eyes flickering over him in a curious, assessing manner. They seemed intimidated, but there was a stubborn steadiness to their expression that contrasted that. "Personal project... every little bit helps, and all."