open the door, no need to follow

[copsormasks]

WHO: Jason Todd and Jonathan Crane
WHEN: After meeting in the mingle
WHERE: Jason's Apartment
WHAT: Jason and Crane share a casual coffee
NOTES\WARNINGS: Trauma, lots of trauma



[It takes about thirty minutes to go from coffee-less to sitting across from each other in Jason's apartment, the first of the week, while a new coffeemaker percolates with the sound of a dying beast. Jason doesn't really care that much about the coffee and instead his focus remains on the Jonathan Crane sitting across from him.

There's not much to the apartment except a backpack in one corner and some standard furnishings that came with the apartment. Jason is too paranoid to stay in one spot and moves too much to put a personal touch on any place he takes residence.

None of it is home, none of it will ever be home, but that's a train of thought for another day.]

Coffee should be done in a few minutes. Swept the place for bugs. No one should be listening in.

[And Jason's tracker was cut out of him by Deathstroke weeks ago, so he's not afraid of being tracked in this moment.]

Comments

[copsormasks]

Okay, so rye bread.

[Jason considers what he does know about fear toxin from his research in chemistry.]

You need something that shuts down the lizard brain right? I think other you mentioned something about GABA? Tomatoes and some fruits and veggies have that, right?

[His brain is working overtime to remember what his Crane said to him.]

[restingstitchface]

[The amygdala and it's neurotransmitter systems, he corrects gently between sentences. Unable to write upon a chalkboard, he decides to interject, to educate. Because when any student of his calls the amygdala a "lizard brain" they fail the class.]

Correct. Though GABA is poor at crossing the blood-brain barrier. I suppose one would need to influence the enteric nervous system through the gut-brain axis. Magnesium and apigenin could work. Quercetin and kaempferol too now that I think about it...

[He continues thinking. One cannot simply carry tons of leafy greens away from the store without provoking suspicion.]

[copsormasks]

[Jason tries to think of what could be used instead of leafy greens and tomatoes.]

Do you think they have supplements in the store?

[Jason hasn't been here long enough to know.]

[restingstitchface]

Well, magnesium is widely available. The others less so. You will need to think creatively. But I think that will not prove difficult for you.

[Suggest the action. Provide the image. The child is willing and all he is doing is offering direction. Encouragement and attention though not affection. His own experiences make that difficult if not impossible.]

[copsormasks]

I can do that. I'm creative all the time. [That bravado is back. Jason doesn't know what exactly to look for, but he has a book on chemistry to help.]

[restingstitchface]

[Creative. But he wishes to deny himself feeling an emotion necessary for survival. Crane says nothing to dissuage, because he understands the motivation behind not being afraid of anyone - but he finds it incredibly disappointing at the same time.]

Then I suppose the question is how much are you willing to put in the work?

[Because having a fast track to being unafraid means you've not done the work at all.]

[copsormasks]

I'm willing to go all the way. Whatever it takes. [Jason needs these nightmares to stop, needs this ever-constant fear to leave him, in one way or another.]