In silence, Jason ate his first meal for the day. He took his time to finish it, quite sure that no one else will be up at this hour. It's just one-thirty. Barely dawn.
He was only aware that they will be having a guest staying at the manor but was not informed that said guest would be taking quarters next to his. On top of that, they will be sharing bathrooms. Sometimes, he just has a hard time figuring Dick Grayson out.
Normally, he wouldn't mind. It was not like he owned the house. But he assumed Dick had half the brain to ascertain such arrangement isn't ideal and should have decided against it. Apparently, his brother doesn't have half that brain.
Then again, it's probably for the best. He now has a reason to stay awake at night and push back his sleeping hours in the morning. Jason knows that's not really how anyone fights nightmares but changing his sleeping schedule will at least solve two things. One, he will be asleep when Rachel uses the bathroom and vice versa. In fact he'd time his sleep when she's out of her room. Two, everyone's busy enough during the day and would not be anywhere near his space when he deals with his demons in his sleep.
Jason's arrangement worked fine for a week. While everyone else is asleep, he made his waking hours productive. He read books. Something he wasn't keen on doing but recently realized he actually liked. It kept his mind away from a lot of things that bothered him.
One week equates to a lot of silent hours however, and he got bored sooner than he hoped. He finally decided to join the rest of the other sojourners of the manor, save Alfred, one dinner time and was quite lucky to hear the story that Dick is getting the wrong end of Barbara Gordon's stick. It was amusing albeit expected. When he has free time, he sometimes wonder how the ex-lovers even got together in the first place.
"Where are you going?" Jason asked as he ruffled his wet hair with his hand in front of the mirror. When he didn't get a response, he turned to his right where the next-door occupant stood frozen with her back at him.
"Hmm?" she responded timidly looking over her shoulder. "I'm done. You can now use the room." Jason casually informed.
Rachel had been accustomed to using the adjoining room with nonchalance considering she hasn't seen even a strand of Jason's hair the past week so she wasn't expecting to see him now. Even if he did join them at dinner.
He stood by the bathroom sinks with a puzzled look, a hand on his hip. "Yeah, I can see that. I'll just come back when you're gone," Rachel responded turning her back at him once more.
Truthfully, she wanted to shout at him but she decided against it. He might have been rude to her but she didn't have to be the same. Besides, it wasn't his fault that she casually entered a room with a half naked guy in it.
"Room's yours!" she heard him shout from his bedroom before she even got to completely close her side of the door. He must be in a good mood that he didn't even start anything with her. Loathe was she to admit it, she found the gesture cold.
"Hm?" Jason hasn't even reached his closet when he heard a knock on the door. It was the door to the adjoining room he just left a few seconds ago. He won't wonder anymore who it is. But he thought he's free to wonder why she's knocking.
Without much deliberation, Jason slid his door open. "What can I help you with sunshine?" he asked as he crossed his arms on his chest.
YOU ARE READING
Cognitive Dissonance
FanfictionBreathing came back to his lifeless form but he thinks he should have stayed dead. There was nothing left for him to keep living in this world for anyway. Too bad for him. The universe wants him back. He hated every second of it.
