[ Jason's response registers as "read" almost the minute he sends it, but the reply isn't immediate. On Jason's end, he can probably see some indication that Catra is trying to craft some kind of reply but keeps stopping and starting again in fits and bursts. So, she's not dead or gone.
On Catra's end, she spends several minutes trying to come up with a suitable reply.
The first is "Fuck off," but after a beat she considers that Jason hasn't actually done anything to deserve that, and deletes it.
Then she types "Leave me alone," but it occurs to her that will probably have the opposite of the desired effect, and deletes that too.
After that, she tries "What, like you care," and nearly hits send. But then the memory of their previous interaction before she'd gone home comes back to her, and her finger hesitates over the send button. Jason does care about her. He said as much. She has proof. So why does this rankle so much?
She deletes that reply too. Finally, she settles on-- ]
Was away for a bit.
[ She doesn't say "Sorry"-- Catra never says sorry. But part of her counts on Jason knowing it's implied. ]
Went home. Stuff happened. Etc. You owe me a couple birthday presents.
( he shouldn't have been surprised, honestly. jason has been out of it for quite some time. missed his younger self disappearing. missed a lot of shit. catra disappearing? unsurprising. but he should have been there. should have been available to help her, or something. not that he could have done anything, but. )
[ The next reply takes a long time in coming, for how simple it is. ]
... Thanks.
[ She doesn't say anything after that.
But two nights later sees Catra trying to retrace her steps from a year ago back to Jason's new place, and letting herself in the usual way. ]
... You still keep a way in for me.
[ It's a statement more than a question. She knows if Jason wanted to completely Catra-proof his house, he's more than capable. He's done it before, after all. But of course, it hasn't even been a full month that Catra's been gone in this world, even though it's been over a year for her.
In all honesty, by the looks of Catra, it's hard to believe it's only been a year and a bit. It looks like it easily could have been longer. She hasn't grown any taller, but she looks different in every other aspect. She's wearing what looks like some kind of red and black uniform, a rank badge on her arm and diadem around her face. Her hair is grown out, long-- smooth, rather than the wild mane it was growing into before. Like she tries to deliberately make it look more like human hair. Her face is slimmer, the last traces of baby-face gone from it, and there are dark circles the size of Texas under her eyes.
Even her body language is different. Where before she'd been scrawny and scrappy and a bit wild, now she seems-- meaner. There's real muscle now beneath that leanness, and she holds herself tightly, like a wound spring. Like she's controlling every muscle in her body, down to even her tail, held unnaturally still. ]
( he didn't, for a while. after dying, he had closed everything up. made it safer, made himself feel more safe. but he invited catra over, so jason--leaves a window open for her. figures she'll eventually come by and take him up on his offer.
and when she does, he's--standing in the kitchen, bottle of water in hand. pauses to look her over, notes the difference in body language, how much more put together she seems. less messy, at least. )
Looks like you have a story to tell. What'd I miss?
[ Catra exhales and looks away, unable to quite meet Jason's eyes. It's not quite like the... embarrassed, begrudgingly affectionate look she used to get. Rather, she looks... hassled. ]
... We're close. I'm close. To-- taking over. To everything I worked for. I'm second-in-command. Hordak trusts me. Relies on me. We took Salineas. We have the seas. We have all the ground territory-- everything except Brightmoon. We were about to launch our final offensive.
[ But she reins it in at the last minute. She ignores the gesture to sit down, though-- starts pacing instead, gesturing as she goes. ]
Don't say it. Don't say "I told you so." I know. I know. You weren't there! I didn't remember!
I worked so hard. I got everything I wanted. I-- I'm in charge of everything. People respect me. Or-- or they fear me, I don't know.
[ The way she says it sounds like she does know, and it's the latter. She seems like she's coming apart at the seams a little as she paces. Like she's only been holding on this long held together by a very thin thread. ]
I just thought if I finally-- if I finally did it, it wouldn't matter how crappy it was getting there. It'd make everything else worth it. I thought-- I don't know, winning would be fun. Winning is supposed to be fun! But it's-- not. It's not. Everyone hates me, and... they're right to. And it's too late to take any of it back. And I just... I don't know what to do.
[ But it's clearly more of a token complaint than a legitimate one, since she does in fact pad over to where Jason's sitting and collapse gratefully into the couch there.
She puts a hand over her wearily. It feels like a decade ago she slept on this couch when things were rough with Adora. Was it really only a month ago from Jason's perspective? ]
( an arm around her shoulders, to try and pull her in against his side. his own shoulders--loosen, go slack. relax. catra isn't a threat, there's no reason for jason to be on edge. )
Take a nap. I'm here, nothing's going to happen.
( she said she was tired. he's not going to amp her up more getting into all that bullcrap. instead, jason'll let her sleep--then they can catch up. )
( you think he is? he remembers once in his life, when bruce had held onto him when he was sick. ran fingers through his hair, helped him get to sleep. once. jason's used to powering through until his body shuts itself down. but it's a shit option.
he takes a deep breath, lets it out. raises a hand to her hair. )
[ She wants to lean into it. She does. It could be a cute moment.
If only Catra would let it be. But she jerks her head at the last second, ruining it, pulling away. ]
Don't touch my hair.
[ Shadow Weaver had done that. Had-- manipulated her through little fond touches, making Catra think she cared. ]
Why are you doing this? Why are you being all-- nice to me? I don't deserve it. You know I don't. I only ever make your life more difficult and I'm a terrible person. And I already called in my favour, so you don't owe me.
( rolling his eyes, but he lets her pull away. slouches back into the sofa without fighting her on it. she's catra, she's--scrappy, always wary because that's how she was taught. how she grew up. he understands. it's very much how jason is, too. )
You make shit decisions. You push boundaries too far. You try to rule shit by fear and expect it to stick. People don't respect fear, Catra. They fear it. But look--I get it. I've been there. And I know what it's like to feel like you've got no one. To push shit too far because you don't know what else to do. I could sit here and bitch at you for making shitty decisions, but that's not going to help. I could be mean to you, but where's that going to get us?
( nowhere. it'll push catra even further into a corner. give her nothing to hold onto. he knows better then that. )
I'm helping 'cause I care. All the rest, we can handle later.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2020-09-03 04:37 am (UTC)On Catra's end, she spends several minutes trying to come up with a suitable reply.
The first is "Fuck off," but after a beat she considers that Jason hasn't actually done anything to deserve that, and deletes it.
Then she types "Leave me alone," but it occurs to her that will probably have the opposite of the desired effect, and deletes that too.
After that, she tries "What, like you care," and nearly hits send. But then the memory of their previous interaction before she'd gone home comes back to her, and her finger hesitates over the send button. Jason does care about her. He said as much. She has proof. So why does this rankle so much?
She deletes that reply too. Finally, she settles on-- ]
Was away for a bit.
[ She doesn't say "Sorry"-- Catra never says sorry. But part of her counts on Jason knowing it's implied. ]
Went home. Stuff happened. Etc. You owe me a couple birthday presents.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-03 11:09 pm (UTC)welcome back
how much do i owe you?
no subject
Date: 2020-09-03 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-03 11:29 pm (UTC)what do you want?
no subject
Date: 2020-09-03 11:41 pm (UTC)Can I say a good night's sleep?
Can you get me one of those?
I'm so tired
no subject
Date: 2020-09-03 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-03 11:48 pm (UTC)I would kill a man for a good night's rest
no subject
Date: 2020-09-03 11:53 pm (UTC)make your way over to my place when you're free, i'll lend a hand
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 12:15 am (UTC)... Thanks.
[ She doesn't say anything after that.
But two nights later sees Catra trying to retrace her steps from a year ago back to Jason's new place, and letting herself in the usual way. ]
... You still keep a way in for me.
[ It's a statement more than a question. She knows if Jason wanted to completely Catra-proof his house, he's more than capable. He's done it before, after all. But of course, it hasn't even been a full month that Catra's been gone in this world, even though it's been over a year for her.
In all honesty, by the looks of Catra, it's hard to believe it's only been a year and a bit. It looks like it easily could have been longer. She hasn't grown any taller, but she looks different in every other aspect. She's wearing what looks like some kind of red and black uniform, a rank badge on her arm and diadem around her face. Her hair is grown out, long-- smooth, rather than the wild mane it was growing into before. Like she tries to deliberately make it look more like human hair. Her face is slimmer, the last traces of baby-face gone from it, and there are dark circles the size of Texas under her eyes.
Even her body language is different. Where before she'd been scrawny and scrappy and a bit wild, now she seems-- meaner. There's real muscle now beneath that leanness, and she holds herself tightly, like a wound spring. Like she's controlling every muscle in her body, down to even her tail, held unnaturally still. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 03:22 am (UTC)and when she does, he's--standing in the kitchen, bottle of water in hand. pauses to look her over, notes the difference in body language, how much more put together she seems. less messy, at least. )
Looks like you have a story to tell. What'd I miss?
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 05:05 am (UTC)... We're close. I'm close. To-- taking over. To everything I worked for. I'm second-in-command. Hordak trusts me. Relies on me. We took Salineas. We have the seas. We have all the ground territory-- everything except Brightmoon. We were about to launch our final offensive.
But it's all... wrong.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 03:14 pm (UTC)( or something similar. he doesn't--try shoving it in her face though. just leaves the kitchen, moves over to the sofa and sits down.
pats the cushion next to him with a hand. )
1/2
Date: 2020-09-04 03:23 pm (UTC)Don't--
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 03:39 pm (UTC)Don't say it. Don't say "I told you so." I know. I know. You weren't there! I didn't remember!
I worked so hard. I got everything I wanted. I-- I'm in charge of everything. People respect me. Or-- or they fear me, I don't know.
[ The way she says it sounds like she does know, and it's the latter. She seems like she's coming apart at the seams a little as she paces. Like she's only been holding on this long held together by a very thin thread. ]
I just thought if I finally-- if I finally did it, it wouldn't matter how crappy it was getting there. It'd make everything else worth it. I thought-- I don't know, winning would be fun. Winning is supposed to be fun! But it's-- not. It's not. Everyone hates me, and... they're right to. And it's too late to take any of it back. And I just... I don't know what to do.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 03:40 pm (UTC)doesn't argue, because that's pointless. )
Come here.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 03:52 pm (UTC)Don't tell me what to do.
[ But it's clearly more of a token complaint than a legitimate one, since she does in fact pad over to where Jason's sitting and collapse gratefully into the couch there.
She puts a hand over her wearily. It feels like a decade ago she slept on this couch when things were rough with Adora. Was it really only a month ago from Jason's perspective? ]
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 03:54 pm (UTC)Take a nap. I'm here, nothing's going to happen.
( she said she was tired. he's not going to amp her up more getting into all that bullcrap. instead, jason'll let her sleep--then they can catch up. )
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 04:01 pm (UTC)If it were that easy, don't you think I would've done it already? I can't.
I just keep seeing all the crap I don't wanna think about in my dreams instead.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 04:07 pm (UTC)he takes a deep breath, lets it out. raises a hand to her hair. )
I'll sucker punch all that crap in your dreams.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 04:17 pm (UTC)If only Catra would let it be. But she jerks her head at the last second, ruining it, pulling away. ]
Don't touch my hair.
[ Shadow Weaver had done that. Had-- manipulated her through little fond touches, making Catra think she cared. ]
Why are you doing this? Why are you being all-- nice to me? I don't deserve it. You know I don't. I only ever make your life more difficult and I'm a terrible person. And I already called in my favour, so you don't owe me.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 04:23 pm (UTC)You make shit decisions. You push boundaries too far. You try to rule shit by fear and expect it to stick. People don't respect fear, Catra. They fear it. But look--I get it. I've been there. And I know what it's like to feel like you've got no one. To push shit too far because you don't know what else to do. I could sit here and bitch at you for making shitty decisions, but that's not going to help. I could be mean to you, but where's that going to get us?
( nowhere. it'll push catra even further into a corner. give her nothing to hold onto. he knows better then that. )
I'm helping 'cause I care. All the rest, we can handle later.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 04:36 pm (UTC)( easy, voice still low. he's not going to argue with her, because why bother. )
Did you still want that nap?
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 04:51 pm (UTC)[ She hesitates. Seems a little startled. ]
... Fine. Sure. Whatever. Yeah, I do.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-04 04:55 pm (UTC)( they're for nefarious purposes, not for putting hissy cats to bed. )
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