This chapter is short compared to the last few chapters.
Dick: ONLY a thousand.
Jason: not a big deal.
Dick: so, SO SHORT.
And now, a word from our sponsor:
Pistachio, pistachions.
Dick: ...
Jason: ...
Tim: ...
Damian: ...
Jason: evil time-travelling pistachio monsters from the future.
Look, even I don't know this reference. My friend said it, so I just put it.
Dick: people who know it will probably start laughing. But who knows?
Me and Jason: YEP! Who knoooooooowwwsssssssss...
(High-five.)
"Disco thornbush," Dick said. Duke spit out the leftover french-fry he had taken a bite out of while Luke pat his back worriedly. Kate's eyebrows scrunched together in visible confusion, Tim face-palmed, and Damian coughed obnoxiously to cover up a laugh.
"WHAT?!" they all exclaimed as one. Dick smiled and cleared his throat.
"All according to plan," he said. "Alright, The Mermaid of Zennor."
Once upon a time, there was an old wood carver named Arthur.
"I get it," Tim said. "Mermaid, Aquaman…"
"Aquaman's name is Arthur?" Kate asked. Dick smiled brightly at her.
"Trust me, there are worse names on the League," he said.
One day, he was carving a bench in a church. While the priest and the service were going on, Arthur worked on his bench. Maybe rude, maybe not, I don't know. I'll let you decide.
When the service was done, a woman with long, red hair approached the bench (and Arthur) and admired it. There were beautiful, intricate carvings on two of the three sections of the bench. She smiled at him.
"What are you going to carve into the last spot?" she asked. Arthur jumped and hit his head on… something that was above his head.
"This is expert storytelling right here," Duke said, clapping his hands together. Dick smirked at him.
"I would LOVE to hear YOU tell a story," he said. Duke shook his head.
"Nah, I'm good," he said. "You need to tell 100, and I don't want to lessen the amount you know you can tell."
Dick shrugged.
"Fair enough."
Jason opened the window and crawled into his old apartment. He stalked over to the couch and practically fell on it, letting out a deep sigh of satisfaction. His eyes flew over the walls and floor, taking in all of the new things about the area.
When he had initially moved back into the manor, he had no idea what he was going to do with this tiny apartment. It was old and falling apart, so people wouldn't be crazy enough to buy it. He didn't want to fix it up too nicely, because then he'd lose an awesome place to crash when he wanted to get away from the craziness known as his family.
And then, he had run into a bunch of kids on the street, all gathered around a bucket fire, trying to stay warm. Jason had led them to this apartment, they stayed for a couple days, then left. Kids had come and go, some just wanting to stay warm, others needing to lay low for a couple days. Sometimes, they just needed a place to rest, like him.
The best part of moving in with Bruce and the others was that he could mooch off of Bruce's card and have all sorts of food delivered to this apartment for the kids who stopped by.
Jason saw a bunch of different little doodles on the walls, some tic tac toe games on the floor, and a stray candy wrapper. The kids kept this place surprisingly clean. Candy Wrapper Kid must be a new one.
He turned his attention to the back wall and shot up, eyes wide and a shocked look on his face. Someone had painted a mural, a whole FREAKING mural, on the wall.
Someone had painted him wearing his helmet. There were all sorts of dark, terrifying things near the top of the mural, all looking like they were attacking. Red Hood was holding his guns, both aimed upwards at the things attacking them. Near the bottom of the mural were a bunch of tinier people, all huddled around Red Hood with smiles on their faces. There were flowers and green vines with more flowers growing out from behind him.
Jason stared at it in awe and wonder, a warm, fuzzy feeling growing in his chest. He felt a smile take over on his face. This was… amazing.
He pulled a sticky note out of his utility belt, removed a pen from another pocket, and wrote something down. He took a picture of the mural and stuck the note on the wall. He then lied back down on the couch, closing his eyes with a warm smile on his face.
The mermaid returned the next day. Since there was no point in the original story where she introduced herself the the dude, I'll just go ahead and tell you guys that her name was Mera.
Kate opened her mouth to say something, but Dick interrupted her.
"That's an Atlantean name," he said. "No judge."
"What about the name 'Arthur'?" she asked. "That's not Atlantean, is it?"
"His Atlantean name is Orin, I think," Dick said. "It's been a while since I've heard anyone call him that. I'm really used to Arthur."
"Oh," Kate said.
Mera saw that Arthur still hadn't filled in the last spot. She leant down and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and started carving something in the spot.
The priest was the one who saw the finished chair the next day. There was no sign of Arthur, and no sign of Mera, either. Not that day, not the next day, not ever again.
But if someone ever looked out to sea, they would see the two happily swimming in the waters together.
"The End," Dick said. He thought about the next story for only a second before smiling evilly to himself. He knew EXACTLY what was going to happen… it would definitely be worth it. And no one was going to be allowed to complain.
"Wait wait wait… isn't he going to drown?" Luke asked. Dick shrugged.
"I'm not paid enough to care," he said. Luke's face twisted into one of horror.
"But you're a police officer?" he asked. Dick nodded.
"Yeah, but they pay me to care about the citizens of Gotham, not a bunch of fairytale characters," he said. Tim rolled his eyes.
"Chances are, you would care about them regardless of pay," he said. Dick frowned at him.
"Gotham or the fairytale characters?" he asked. Tim smirked at him and Dick shook his head. "Know what? Nevermind…"
Jason glanced down at his phone. He rubbed his face to see if his mask was still there.
Yeah, it was.
He saw the message from Tim.
Tim: Jason, how long do you think you'll be out?
Jason sighed.
Jason: not sure… but I need to stay away for a bit. Haven't checked on the Haven yet.
Tim: alright, you do that. What do I tell Dick?
Jason: that I'm gonna spend some quality time with the kids who take refuge in my apartment.
Tim: alright then… have fun.
Jason: you too.
Jason buried his phone in his pocket and rested an arm on his shoulder. He closed his eyes, intent on going back to sleep and ignoring any injuries he had sustained the previous day.
He was almost asleep when an unfamiliar voice asked, "Who are you?"
Jason: dun Dun DUNNNNNNN
Is the thing with Jason cannon? Cause, Imma be honest, I REALLY want it to be cannon. Honestly, it would be adorable.
