Who: Jace and Dick Where: Training Gymnasium at the Facility When: 1 December 2019 What: Chats and a workout Rating/Warnings: SFW (some trauma talk) Status: Complete
His shoulders burned from exertion as muscles which had been very much overused in the past three hours protested their current position. The maltese cross was an easy one for him, one he'd done a million times and the normalcy of it soothed nerves which were currently hyper sensitive. He'd been in a state of anxiety ever since he'd found that stupid suit hanging in his closet the day after Thanksgiving. It was now early December and he definitely wasn't getting into the festive spirit.
Dick only hoped that his mood hadn't been picked up on by his brother or Wally. He was a decent actor when it mattered and hadn't shown that anything was troubling him while at the apartment. The Talon suit was still there, he couldn't bring himself to touch it, even to rip it to shreds. For years they'd been meddling in his life, trying to recruit him, their supposed Gray Son. They'd been responsible for all the recent trauma he'd had to live through, for Ric. An angry whip of his body had him flipping through the air and landing in a dismount which rattled through his bones.
A puff of French chalk clouded around him as he clapped his hands together, wincing slightly at the burning sensation in his palms. Maybe he'd been at this a little too long.
Jace hadn't intended to interrupt Dick's session in the gym. His own workout was a couple of hours done now, long enough that he'd showered and watched some dumb videos he'd been sent. It was boredom, more than anything, that had brought him back down to that level. His new assignment started in December, and he hadn't taken on any others over the holiday weekend. His siblings and boyfriend were unavailable at the moment, and he wasn't quite bored enough to bother Magnus solo, which basically left the gym. Maybe it shouldn't have surprised him to find his friend still down there—he himself was no stranger to long workouts—but there was a mood to it that he hadn't consciously picked up on the first time.
He leaned against the door frame until the other had dismounted, then pushed upright. "I can't say that one's part of my usual routine, but you make it look easy."
It was testament to his odd mood that he hadn’t noted his friend’s presence as soon as Jace had returned. Instead it wasn’t until the other spoke that he realised he wasn’t alone. Bruce would have had something to say about that, but he wasn’t in the same universe, so Dick would get away with his lapse this time. "I’ve been doing this a long time," Dick smiled, gymnastics had come before fighting in his training history. "Since I was tiny and at the circus. I’m sure you’d get the hang of it if you tried."
A tiny pun, nowhere near his usual standard. But an effort was made to be normal.
"What brings you back down here?"
"I can tell." Jace had been training since he was young, too, so it was easy to spot that sort of discipline in someone else. Dick's move wasn't one that had particular applicability in hunting demons, but he found it intriguing from a physical conditioning standpoint. He'd have Dick talk him through it on another day, when he didn't sense this was something other than a normal training session.
He shrugged as he came farther into the room. "I didn't have anything better to do. What's keeping you down here?"
Dick gave a little smile, knowing that Jace could recognise a similarity between his training history and Dick’s. Start ‘em young was a trend between Acrobats, Shadowhunters and Bats. He also shouldn’t have expected his friend to miss the odd mood which had seeped into this particular training session. Jace was very astute, no doubt his sister and Alec were too. He was just glad Simon wasn’t down here, he’d be able to tell immediately something was wrong and Dick wasn’t sure he could pretend anymore.
"Too many thoughts in my head. I was given an unwanted gift by the portal." He freed his hands from their wraps, dropping them into his bag. "A suit. Not the Batsuit, I’m fine having that here. This one though… it’s got a lot of crap associated with it."
When Jace stopped again, it was only to lean on the nearest piece of equipment, not quite right next to Dick, but close enough for casual conversation. "I know a little something about those," he said with a nod, thinking of his own recent gift. He knew enough about Dick's life on the other side of the portal to not be completely confused at the statement, but he couldn't say the context was completely clear. "It's a uniform of sorts?" They didn't have a specific attire as Shadowhunters, but he definitely had the sort of emotional attachment his friend was describing with certain other elements, such as his weapons and stele. "It's hard not to read into the things that come through the portal, good and bad."
"I’m sorry, it sucks when something comes through that you have mixed or negative feelings about." His mouth formed into an unhappy line, the expression not often seen on his face. "How did you deal with it? Steph burned hers when she was here. One of the flock of us B mentored, she’s like the annoying little sister I never had." He clarified, not sure if he’d mentioned all his found siblings by name to Jace or not. Jumping up to perch on the pommel Jace was leaning against, he nodded. "Yeah, it’s a uniform. Used by this underground group called the Court of Owls for their assassins, the Talons. They’ve been secretly manipulating Gotham for hundreds of years, killing off anyone who tried to better the place, they tried to kill Bruce multiple times. The circus where I grew up trained a lot of their Talons. My Great-Grandfather was one. I’m supposed to become one, their Gray Son, destiny and all that crap. I wore it for a while, when my memory was gone, but it never felt right."
His shoulders dropped and his arms wound around his shins, as if trying to curl himself up against the thoughts tumbling around his head. "Sorry to unload on you. I just can’t fathom why that of all things would come through."
Jace let out a strangled sort of laugh at the question, remembering just how he and Simon had claimed his piano. He cleared his throat, because he had no intention of describing those details to his friend. "Still working on the dealing, but mostly trying to make better memories than what came attached to it. My childhood piano showed up a few weeks ago." He shrugged. He'd told Dick a little something of his childhood before the Lightwoods, enough that the man would understand the implication. He left it at that, though, because he wasn't the one currently grappling with his portal present.
At the phrase Court of Owls, Jace shuddered visibly, a reaction he couldn't control even now, more than a year after his own Owl experience. But this wasn't that, and he wasn't going to derail his friend's explanation. "If you knew the why, we probably wouldn't need that horde of scientists trying to figure it all out. Don't worry about it. If I was afraid of a little unloading, I'd already be out the door." He was quiet for a moment, thinking, before he said, "What happened to the suit in your world? Did you have a chance to tell Destiny to fuck off, or were they still circling you?"
At the weird sounding noise from his friend, Dick arched an eyebrow and fixed Jace with a very knowing look. Evidently the dealing had been assisted by Simon, or perhaps he'd been a more than welcome distraction. Too bad Dick didn't have one of those handy, though he supposed Margo might be willing. "Ah… hey, you could record something with Si, that might be a nice new memory?"
A little chuckle and bob of his head followed the frank statement. "True. I should leave the wondering to the bigger brains." There had been a definite reaction from Jace to the Court's name, so he carefully avoided using it again. "Thanks, Jace."
Uncurling himself, he swung his legs slightly, scrunching up his nose in thought after the question. "I actually don't know. It was all cut up and bloody after I fought in it. I didn't see it again after I took it off the last time."
Tilting his head as he looked across at his friend, he gave a tiny shrug, "They're probably still circling, but when I got my memory back I chose Nightwing over The Talon. So I kind of told them to fuck off? Now, did you want to give the rings a try? Or the escrima?"
"Nah, I think I'll leave all that to Simon. I don't really play for other people." Which wasn't to say that he couldn't do it or was intimidated by the idea, but Jace was so used to keeping his music private that doing something for the public wasn't really a goal of his. His boyfriend, on the other hand, wanted the spotlight and deserved it. Jace was okay with leaning into his own strengths. "But the more I play it, the less it feels like the boogeyman it could have been."
He nodded at the other's thanks, even though he wasn't sure he'd done all that much. "I'm assuming choosing Nightwing was the good decision? So basically this suit is a reminder of shitty things that happened, of shitty people who wanted bad things for and from you, and of the fact that you turned your back on it? That sound about right?" He pushed upright once again and unzipped his jacket, pulling it off and tossing it aside. He smiled a bit slyly. "You know I'm game for anything, but this is your workout I'm invading. So you tell me. What's next?"
"I think I understand, playing music is a very personal thing, which some people don’t feel comfortable sharing." Jace fell into that group, while Simon was firmly in the other, a performer like him. "I’m glad that you’re feeling better about it than when it first arrived." Somehow he didn’t think wearing the suit would make his thoughts about it any more positive. Maybe he’d follow Steph’s lead and burn the damn thing.
"Yep, that sounds right." Dick chuckled and felt lighter than he had before his friend’s return to the gym. "I certainly hope it was the good decision, seeing as Nightwing is my hero persona."
Jace’s smile earned one in return and Dick paused to consider which discipline to move onto next. "I haven’t had much need to fight here, save for that run in during the bachelorette party. I wouldn’t want to get rusty, so if you don’t mind sparring for a while? I’ll teach you real gymnastics another time."
"Thankfully, invisibility runes mean I've never had to dress up for the mundanes, even for anonymity. I hear that my everyday gear doesn't quite fit the superhero aesthetic." Jace rolled his eyes, but considering most of his superhero knowledge pre-portal had come from a certain vampire of whom he was stupidly fond, there was no real annoyance in the gesture. "So what are you going to do with it?"
Considering sparring was well known to be his favorite gym activity, his grin of acceptance was no surprise. Alec was still his favorite sparring partner, but Dick was quickly becoming number two, and that had nothing to do with how much he happened to look like Jace's parabatai. Sparring with Simon was enjoyable, but that had nothing to do with actual training. "Right. The one where my boyfriend got shot." He kicked off his shoes and moved onto the mat. He wasn't upset about that event, but rather weirdly amused. Maybe that wasn't a normal reaction, but he wasn't a mundane. Fighting was what he did. This time, he didn't activate any of his runes. "Unfortunately, I'm watching over kids these days, so I can't even hope for a little excitement."
"That’d really come in handy in Gotham. Although I admit that I do like putting on a costume, just not sure what I’ll do with this one." A wry little smile curved his lips at the mention of Jace’s usual attire, "Lots of leather? Just add welding goggles and you’ll be the heroine of every steampunk crime novel ever written."
Bouncing on his toes, he followed Jace toward the middle of the slightly springy mat where he usually practiced his flips. He’d sparred with Jace before and it reminded him of practicing his moves with his own Jason, or even Bruce. Not so acrobatic, but could pack a hell of a punch. "Yeah, I really am sorry that happened. I didn’t intend for anyone to get hurt. I’d have rather taken the hit than him. But his healing ability sure is something."
He made a few shadow strikes before the pair really started to get into it. "Don’t worry, I’m sure excitement will find you."
"I have no idea what that is, so I'm not sure if I should be offended or not." Jace said with a laugh. His small amount of reading definitely didn't tend toward the whatever-punk thing Dick was talking about.
"Yeah, probably better that he took the hit. Vampires are hard to kill." Maybe it was strange to say that about his boyfriend, but he was used to making those kinds of strategic decisions in battle, and this felt no different. If things were going to get dicey, better that you focus on the practicality of survival than the emotion of it. In theory. He wasn't going to think too hard about what he'd do in that situation. "Shadowhunters, too," he added before he struck out, testing Dick's reflexes more than really trying to get in a hit. The guy had been in the gym for a long time today, and that could change the way he moved. Jace grinned as he rolled away and turned to face him again. "I'm not worried. If I need it, I'll just make my own adventure. You're welcome to come along."
"It’s a compliment, they’d love you at comic con." Dick winked. It was true that Simon’s indestructibility made him a better candidate to take damage than the squidgy human. But he still didn’t like his friends getting hurt. He dodged the strike, watching Jace’s form as he spun away, anticipating his next move. "I’ll definitely take you up on that offer."