you_tried | IC CONTACT

Sure. Come on over
I'm making smoothies
I'll make two

Sure. Thanks Booster

[The nice thing about living so close-by is that Jaime doesn't even have to suit up to get to Booster's in good time. All he has to do is walk a few blocks, and he's right there.

Another good thing, he thinks to himself, is that Booster might be the one guy Jaime doesn't feel judged around. He felt nervous even hinting at his capacity for violence around Superman, and while he's told a few others that he's capable of a lot, he never bothered to tell them the specifics. It's awful, and uncomfortable, and all they really need to know is how to stop them. They have that under control.

But if someone needs to know... for some reason, he thinks Booster will take it in stride more than anyone else would be able to. He's done and seen so much, but Booster knows him. He won't start looking at him like this loose cannon just knowing a few extra facts, right?

He hopes not, anyway. He takes a deep breath, then knocks on Booster's door. He doesn't look particularly cheery, but he doesn't look strictly unhappy like he did when he came over after running into Hal either. He's got this.]

[ Booster's still not sure how or when he became the kind of person who Jaime tells things to, but he's... weirdly kind of okay with it. It makes him feel important, in a way that actually matters, which is new. Takes some getting used to. He's still sort of waiting for the day when he accidentally gives some kind of really crappy advice, but so far it hasn't happened.

Weird.

He's dressed normally when he answers the door, since hey, people are giving him real clothes for his ImPort modeling deals and he might as well, right? It's hot, anyway. ]

Come on in. [ He gives Jaime a look as he waves him inside. ] You don't have to knock every time, you know. You can just let yourself in.

Thanks. I think your roommates might be kinda unhappy if I did that, though. [He looks Booster up and down once, a little surprised to see him look so normal, if you don't count the fact that he's 6'5" and, though Jaime will never admit it, does actually look like a model.] Nice clothes. They look a lot comfier than the suit.

[In these long summer days, Jaime feels hot out of sympathy alone whenever Booster's waltzing around in the future-spandex.]

Not as shiny, though. Maybe sequins will come around again eventually.

[ What if people don't recognize him? What if he needs to lift a car? These are serious concerns. Well. Semi-serious, anyway. (The car-lifting thing comes up more than you'd think.)

He breezes to the kitchen. He wasn't kidding about the smoothies. ]

Here. It's strawberry. [ And the one with the blue straw gets handed to Jaime. ]

Hey, thanks!

[That gives him something to busy his hands with, anyway. He's a little charmed that Ted and Booster actually keep their house stocked with straws. He takes a sip out of it and comments, off-hand:] It's good!

[He leans against the counter top, swiping his thumb through the condensation on the glass.]

Um... I feel like I should start off with why I'm gonna be telling you all this. I never actually told you what happened when all of us fell asleep, right?

Uh...

[ Come to think of it, he didn't actually. Ask. What with the whole Hal thing. ]

Don't think so. I know there was weird dream stuff? But I don't know what kind of weird dream stuff.

Basically it was just nightmares, only we could see each other's nightmares. Which was, y'know, awesome.

[Jaime doesn't go the teenage sarcasm route as often as he could, but his voice is just dripping with it now. To be honest, it's another layer between him and everything that he'd dreamed about. It's easier just to express the age-old irritation at everything they've been exposed to.]

Superman came to mine for a while. And in mine, I was, uh -- evil? [He stirs his straw in his smoothie once, clockwise.] My suit can produce Kryptonite, and I used it against him. And then he went evil.

[He sounds a little disgruntled about it, as if Superman should take him having Kryptonite in stride because Jaime took all the violence Superman committed in stride. How dare people have different reactions than him?]

Anyway, point being, he wasn't too happy about me having Kryptonite after we woke up.

[ Booster takes a long, thoughtful drink of strawberry smoothie as he takes this all in. So Superman going evil isn't exactly a new thing, he does that every other month or so, don't stop the presses, it's fine. Jaime having going-evil nightmares is a little more of a surprise, though, although considering his capabilities and what a good kid he is, maybe it shouldn't be.

But the Kryptonite... ]

Wait, you can seriously just... make that stuff? [ What the hell can't beetle-boy do? ] I mean, I get why that'd freak him out, I guess, but it's not like you asked to be able to do that, right?

Of course not! I didn't ask for any of the crazy stuff I can do. And I would've told him ahead of time if I knew it was such a big deal, which apparently it is, but... now I know, I guess.

Anyway, I thought we were cool, but then Batman decided to talk to me about it while I was patrolling -- which is literally the first time he's talked to me since he got here. [Rude.] To tell me that I had to hand the Kryptonite over - which I can't - and that any other dangerous junk I have should go directly to the Justice League. [A beat.] Which also isn't happening.

[Even if he could take all of the things he didn't want to give them away, he wouldn't shoot for the Justice League, that's for sure. It's not that he distrusts them, per se, but they've got enough responsibility, enough power. He doesn't know them as a monolith, and he wants to see how they work first.

He wrinkles his nose, thinking about Batman, and Superman, and Green Lantern before confessing,] I get the feeling the Justice League doesn't like me much.

What gives them the right?

[ Sure, they're the Justice League, but that doesn't — or shouldn't mean that they get to order everyone around. Especially completely unaffiliated superheroes. Who are teenagers. And who just stumbled into this crap. Dicks.

Man, what a mess. Booster barely refrains from rolling his eyes, but it's obvious enough in his tone, anyway. ]

I mean, I'm just saying, considering some of their track records, and considering yours... I think you should get to keep all your stuff. Also, because it's your stuff.

[He lets out a quiet snort of laughter. He knew coming in here that Booster is a biased audience and is, therefore, a highly sympathetic one.

Which is exactly what he wants, frankly. He's in the mood to be seen as a friend, not as a threat.]

Well, yeah. Don't get me wrong, I'd give the Kryptonite to Superman or Power Girl if I could, but I'm not gonna give anything to Batman just 'cause he tells me to, even if he doesn't trust me with this stuff.

[Batman probably doesn't, Hal definitely doesn't, and Superman? He said that he still trusts Jaime, but he's not so sure. Superman seems a little wary, and maybe that's his right.]

But apparently Superman told Batman not to go after me after he told him I had Kryptonite, so I have no idea what their deal is. I told him all about it already, and he wanted me to tell someone what my powers actually are. [His smile is a little wry.] I offered to tell him, but only if he didn't tell the rest of the League.

[It's pretty easy to judge by Jaime's expression that Superman hadn't been altogether reassuring in that news of his powers wouldn't reach the rest's ears at some point. No, thank you.]

[ Booster is absolutely biased, and he knows it. And he's just aware enough of it that he almost feels like maybe he should try and give the League a chance...

... but nah. ]

Soooo, I have to ask: what's in it for you?

Good question. Sign of good faith, I guess? Proof that I'm not going to go crazy and start killing everyone just 'cause I can?

[He lets out a little huff of breath, half amused, half just derisive of the whole thing. It's hard not to feel a little jade about it, but then he reminds himself that he likes and trusts Superman, that if Batman's like the one from his world, he's not so bad.

Besides, he doesn't want the conflict in his life. He can at all assuage their fears, he will. Jaime shrugs.]

I don't think the Justice League has the right to know what I can do -- or what anyone can do, honestly. [Booster would agree with that, surely; he saw how poorly that had gone the first time. The last thing they need is another superpower database.]

But if makes them feel better that someone knows... well, I don't really care if you know.

[ It's not that Booster doesn't trust them (he does, mostly, however begrudgingly). It's just that it's so... condescending. Paternalistic. A lot of other words people would be surprised he knows.

He leans back against the counter, shrugging with one shoulder. ]

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you trust me with it and everything, but I'm a little surprised they agreed to it being me.

It was more he than they, and... Superman's actually the guy who suggested you in the first place.

[Maybe it's because Superman knows that Booster's the only other adult superhero out here he'd trust with this sort of information. He's not close to any of them like he is with Booster, but it could mean something else too.

He shrugs.]

Maybe he trusts you more than you think.

... huh.

[ Now that he'll have to see to believe. Maybe he needs to give Superman a call, work this whole thing out. Bury the sparkly hatchet. Or at least figure out what his angle is. Is there an angle? Not really the point now, anyway. ]

Okay. I guess if Superman's fine with me being your accountabilibuddy, that's... flattering? I think? I don't know how to feel about this. [ Booster pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment, sighing. ] I'm getting off track here. This is about you.

Eh, you can talk to him about it later. Maybe he just started paying attention, is all.

[Jaime, stop being upset that nobody else likes your problematic fave.

Only, now that Booster's all caught up, Jaime actually has to start talking. From the look on his face, that's turning out to be a more difficult process than he'd initially anticipated. Where does he even begin?]

I didn't actually plan this far ahead. I should've made a list, or something. Should I, like... start from most deadly and go from there?

[ It's pretty obvious that Jaime's uncomfortable, so Booster does what he does best: attempt (badly) to lighten the mood. ]

Sure. Or in alphabetical order. Or... color coded?

Well, they're all blue.

[That gets Booster a wry smile, though it's fleeting. He's starting to regret this, not because he doesn't trust Booster, but because he really, really hates talking about this. Does Superman have talks to Batman, like, I could punch the sun?

Man, they never talked about this in the brochure.]

You already know about the Kryptonite. I'm pretty sure they've got counters to all sorts of metahumans, but I -- honestly, I spend all my time holding back, not figuring out what I can do, so it's not like I even know everything about it. I can put speedsters in forcefields that zap them if they try to vibrate out of them, [he finally begins, though that doesn't necessarily count as fatal.] If someone's got a lot of energy, I can siphon it off of them, and if someone tries attacking my brain, I can... attack back?

[Uncomfortable, almost offhand:] And I kind of have nukes.

[Oops.]

Edited 2015-08-04 10:29 (UTC)

[ Booster takes it all in stride, despite a growing sense that this is a whole lot of information that he's going to have to act like he doesn't know until someone figures out that he actually does know and then yells at him, and that's going to suck. A lot. Like, is weird tiny Barry Allen going to get all huffy about this one day? What a responsibility.

But he really is mostly impressively neutral about all of it right up until Jaime basically mumbles the thing about the nukes. That's when he chokes on his smoothie. Just a little. ]

You— hgkk [ cough, ow ] — wow, what? Your little spine buddy is nuclear?

Aghh, sorry, I probably could have led up to that better.

[Don't choke, Booster. Jaime takes a second to sip awkwardly at his own smoothie, but happily, without choking. It's almost as if they're just two guys who really like smoothies, having a break, only one of them has nukes and the other's only hearing about it for the first time.

Fun stuff, all 'round.]

But, I mean. Yes? Technically? I'm never gonna use them, I just... have them. And other stuff that was, uh, technically meant for taking over the world -- which I'm also not going to use!

[He sighs, a somewhat belaboured sound.]

You can see why I don't spread this around.

[If someone with mind control knew, or someone with powers of possession, or even technopathy, they'd be in a whole world of trouble.

Booster Gold is the man who deserves to know this piece of vital information.]

[ Sure, why not? Booster's already burdened with all kinds of terrible, terrible secrets — what are a few more in the big scheme of things? ]

I know you're not gonna use them! [ He spreads his arms wide, offended by the very idea. ] What would you even do if you took over the world?

[ Okay. Okay. Don't freak out. He's telling you this because he figured you wouldn't freak out. Right? ]

Okay. So basically you have an anti-superhero arsenal. I kind of already knew that in a broad sense, just not the, uh. Nuclear specifics.

[ He looks a little wary about it, because although if he made a list of "People Booster Gold Would Trust With Nuclear Weapons," Jaime would be near the top of the list (even if being on the list would probably stress him out a lot), he's suddenly aware of the possibility, and that's... well... unsettling. Not least of all because the possibility is in his kitchen. ]

It's not a good ice breaker, I'll give you that. [ But... ] Are you worried about it?

[At least it's a little bit nice that Booster reinforces the idea that he knows Jaime's not going to up and take over the world. And he's right about one thing: Jaime wouldn't know what to do with himself if he did. What would he do with the world? Lecture it into being nice? Ask them if they could please turn all of their cameras off, because being on the world stage is going to give him hives?

No, thank you. Booster is, all things considered, taking this about as well as Jaime could have humanly expected him to, but that doesn't stop it from being a deeply uncomfortable subject.]

I'd have to be an idiot not to be, don't you think?

That's what I assumed.

[ But he lets out a sigh, feeling faintly relieved and then less-faintly guilty for being relieved. Like he actually thought the answer would be any different. ]

No one should have that kind of power. For their sake. I think it'd give me ulcers.

up to you! i'm good for ac so action is fine by me

we'll toss it up, then!

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