Rites of Passage | Damian x OC

28. A Simple Request

"Killing the pressure
Release the tension
Float to the ceiling
You don't wanna be coming down
You can use all of me
Take a hit, baby, breathe
I can do all you need
Take a hit, baby, breathe
And use me,"
~ PVRIS, "Use Me"

Chapter 28: A Simple Request

"Have you gotten tired of rooftops?"

The dry voice startled Jess from behind, nearly causing her to fall off the swing. She'd been completely alone at the small park, swaying a few inches to and fro while lost in thought as the city's looming darkness deepened in the sky above her.

Turning around, she saw the familiar green-and-red hero approaching her slowly, his hood pulled over his head and casting a shadow across his masked face. Relieved but also hardly surprised that it was him, Jess wrapped her jacket closer around herself and pushed at the ground with her foot to begin swinging again.

"Needed a change of scenery, I guess," she responded.

In the corner of her eye, Robin was leaning against the pole of the swing set and crossing his arms. Though it was hard to see his eyes, she could feel his gaze on her as she stared at the ground.

A few moments passed before Jess decided to ask, "Did you come find me because you know I'm leaving Gotham?"

"Something like that."

"Why?"

She glanced at him, her feet dragging lightly across the ground. It was a little strange, the way he looked standing there in his heroic gear with playground equipment around him. He appeared completely out-of-place and as if he didn't belong.

"I'm... not sure," Robin finally replied in a low voice.

Jess tore her gaze away, looking at nothing in particular ahead of her. Last time she'd run into the young hero, she'd been a little annoyed that he'd sought her out to bug her about stardust and ask so many questions. However... it felt different tonight, and she didn't mind his company—yet. It didn't feel like he was here now for the same reason though; if anything, Jess found it intriguing that he had showed up, knowing she was going back home. Maybe he had something to say? But about what? Was it a goodbye?

"I'm not doing it anymore," she found herself telling him. "Stardust, I mean. I... I've been off it for a few days."

But not without consequence.

She'd never really experienced withdrawal symptoms since taking up the drug, but ever since her use had recently increased by, well, a lot, her body was punishing her for it. It wasn't entirely physical—instead, the signs were mostly mental in the way that Jess kept mindlessly reaching for her pocket out of habit and finding it empty. Whenever she ate or drank, her immediate intention was to find the stash she'd used to keep on her and add it. Headaches had been coming and going, relieved now instead with painkillers and more sleep.

But the anxiety. The rampant thoughts and emotions that fought in her head were louder now and more difficult to control. Though Damian hadn't known it, she'd begun the morning in tears because the first things to cross her mind were that she had to go back to a place that no longer felt like home, that she had to work ten times harder to get back on track... that she was leaving behind friendships and a city she'd never thought she'd grow attached to.

Even now, Jess was working to contain the stress building in her chest as she continued swinging back and forth, focusing on being as present as possible and paying attention to all her senses. The air was slightly cold with a hint of the smell of dewy rain—the late night forecast suggested light showers—and a particular, cool shade of blue filled their surroundings as the night fell upon them.