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Hi, James. You busy?

Too busy for you? Never.

[ he's just filling rubber chickens with glitter, nbd. ]

To what do I owe the pleasure?

I was just thinking...about Bart coming back.

[Downer right off the bat.]

[ ... oh. Fun. ]

Oh. Yeah. Weird, right? That he'd be here, after... all that.

You think he's gonna find out this time?

God, I hope not. No one should have to hear that, even if it's not technically him it happened to.

Yeah, he's been really lucky--and so have we. I just keep thinking that sooner or later someone's probably going to spill the beans.

Well, Green Lantern and Superman both know, for sure. And I actually told Barry. Figured it'd be better for him to hear the best possible version of it from me than have someone else say who knows what, and then you and I get punched in the face at the speed of sound. Again.

I talked to Superman--he was nice about it.

[But when would Superman being nice ever surprise anyone?]

Yeah. That was probably a good idea, actually.

I have those sometimes. Good ideas.

[ He tries to sound joking, but it's still a little too grim. And honestly, if it had just been him, he wouldn't have bothered, but something about how miserable the whole thing had been for Piper and how alone he'd been had made him do it. Not that he's about to admit that. ]

It's not like I knew the kid, really, but I still— it's like, every time I see him, I think, "I watched you die," and that's screwed up, right? I mean— that's really screwed up.

Well, it's not...surprising, I don't think. I've been there.

[Both with Bart and James! DOUBLE THE FUN.]

I feel like--I have to make up for not being able to save him, but I feel guilty talking to him, too.

[ It... sort of distantly occurs to him that maybe he got off easy, comparatively. He's quiet for several seconds (a remarkable span of time, for him), but finally: ]

Hey, dumb question, but it's not like that with me, right? [ Really dumb question. ] You know what, never mind. Not the same, I know.

It still bothers me but...no, not always in the same way. Because circumstances were different.

[There you go James.]

... yeah. Okay.

[ He fidgets, anxious, wondering if he should press it, but— decides against it. ]

Because he was innocent. [ Which is the difference, at least as far as James is concerned, regarding the two of them. ] I don't know if it would've turned out differently if we'd done something else, or if we'd just ended up with our asses handed to us, too. I don't know, I don't— I mean, it's not your fault, you know, you tried.

[ Except, well, he's a hypocrite, and he absolutely blames himself. ]

That's not...[Well, he doesn't want to get too far into it. Hmm.] I tried, yeah, and didn't make anything better in that whole goddamned mess.

...c'mon. You're too good of a person to beat yourself up like that.

I don't know about that.

[Sigh.]

But thanks. And at least we can try to do better this time, I guess.

No. Do or do not. There is no try.

[ Deep Yoda wisdom right here. ]

Ha. Very funny, James.

Fine, then. Let's do better. Together.

Well, hey, as long as no one dies, we're automatically doing better.

[ That was almost a joke. If he didn't still have nightmares about everything that happened with Bart the first time around, it might be funny. ]

... yeah, sure, together. But actually together. No more of that "I don't like you and you don't like me, but we're stuck with each other" crap.

Hey, you don't need to remind me. You're the one that started that.

[And the past few months since he stopped that shit have been...nice.]

I'm reminding you because I'm— [ sorry? yes, profoundly, but what he actually says is, ] —y'know, tired of you worrying about me starting it up again.

I haven't even brought that up lately.

[He says as if it isn't obvious from his behavior. But hey, he's slowly getting more comfortable with things...it's just that James always goes and pushes the boundaries of their relationship and makes him unsure all over again. But at least he's usually a little less unsure every time.]

Please, give me some credit. You're not that subtle about thinking it.

...Okay, yeah. You're right.

[The stubborn part of him says that James did this to himself and he has to deal with the fallout, but he also feels like saying that after months like this would be a bit unfair.]

Well...it's getting better, isn't it?

[Yeah, that's good and more neutral.]

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